Posts Tagged blog
How Bloggers Make Money Online
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Make Money Online on January 30, 2010
There are 5 ways to make money with your blog (or website). Might be others – I’m open for suggestions:
- Sell ad space on your blog
- Write articles for other companies/blogs/individuals
- Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions
- Sell your own things on your blog
- Sell third party goods online
1. Sell ad space on your blog
One of the most popular ads is GoogleAds: https://www.google.com/adsense (although they pay you only when someone actually clicks on the ad) and the Yahoo Publisher Network https://publisher.yahoo.com/portal/login.php
Selling ad space is fairly easy to do; just create a section on your blog that describes the benefit for companies/individuals to place an ad on your blog.
One word of advice though: When you start this adventure, do not fill your blog to the gills with ads – it will not look very professional. Your readers need to see what you can offer first before they will buy anything from you or off your blog.
You can spot a newbie, right-away by the imense number of ads running on his/her site, trying desperately to make some dough. People do not respond well and they will leave your site fairly quick before you can even write about your expertise.
Here’s an example from the highly acclaimed blog called doshdosh (http://www.doshdosh.com/advertise)
Dosh Dosh Advertising Page
Same can be done for a website. The more traffic you have the more you can charge.
If your blog has low traffic you can always go to TextLinkAds or TextLinkBrokers. Even better connect with your network in Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter and let them know you are offering ad space on your blog for a minimum of $XX amount per month. You will be surprised of the response you get.
2. Write Articles for other companies/blogs/individuals
This usually frightens some people but you don’t have to be an expert in a particular field.
You’ll have to show proof that you:
- are a creative blogger
- have articles you wrote and published on your blog, ezines or squidoo lenses
- comment and are active on other blogs as well
- are proficient using social media, plug-ins and add-ons
- have a basic understanding of simple SEO rules
The best way of all is to show that you are a pro is creating, maintaining and actively contributing on your own blog. You should have at least 3-4 months under your belt and a minimum of 30-50 good articles consisting of 250-500 words each .
The core subject or theme of your blog does not matter as long as you write frequently and professionally. Obviously check for grammar. Write well and write often.
3. Syndicate your blog posts to other blogs/Sell Blog Subscriptions
If the information posted on your blog is in high demand you might want to think about syndicating your blog.
You can accomplish this through 3 easy steps:
a. Find out what your blog’s feed is (it should look like this: http://feeds.feedburner.com/your-blog-name-here)
b. Customize your feed through the feed dashboard
c. Finally – publicize your feed to your readers.
Others have started blogging and got so popular that know they sell subscriptions. See problogger.com
Again, based on how popular your blog is, the amount of money you can charge can vary. Initially start small and as you add more value you can increase the dollar amount you can charge.
4. Sell Your Own Things
In the fortunate even that you already have something to sell on your own, you’ll have to have some additional tools along side your blog:
- If you are selling digital assets (e-books, art, photos, music, etc.) you’ll need an ecommerce shopping cart and a PayPal account.
The alternative is http://www.payloadz.com or http://www.payloadz.com
- If you are selling physical, tangible products you’ll need all of the above, a FedEx account and…lots of boxes.
The majority of bloggers sell their ebooks and books, usually directly from their blog using a simple PayPal account.
5. Sell third party goods online
This is the part where beginners make the mistake of selecting products that they enjoy disregarding their reader’s likes and dislikes. Chose the products your reader base enjoy and look for. If your site is about web design don’t post ads for MP3 players or mortgage adverts.
People that come to your site seek your advice in whatever you are writing about so offer them the things that augment your articles and the entire theme of your blog.
Look for products to sell by signing up as an affiliate. For instance I host my blog with JustHost. I love their customer service and I think it brings a lot of value to every webmaster out there; I therefore promote their company on my site, of course getting a little money for that.
Other sources where you might find good affiliate programs:
Clickbank: http://www.clickbank.com
Commission Junction: http://www.cj.com
Hydra Network: http://www.hydranetwork.com
Once you set this up, you’ll need to promote your blog so it increases in traffic and thus your chances of selling directly from your site. How can you do that? See below a list of articles talking about that.
Related articles by Zemanta
- How to Make $250 Online per Day (defactomind.com)
- Five Techniques That Can Create An Income From Your Blog (webmanmarketing.com)
- Generate Revenue Online With Top Blogging Websites *** (franklinbishop.net)
- How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps (defactomind.com)
- How To Make Money Online (untreatableonline.com)
Blogger – Make it Easy on Your Readers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on January 25, 2010
Commenting on blogs similar to yours is one quick way to promote your own blog/website. I discovered this a while back but wanted to beef up a bit my own blog before jumping on the “comment on other blogs” wagon.
Although a lot of them are very well designed I found it hard to write about some mistakes I kept on seeing on other blogs. In fact I have learned a lot.
The most important thing to remember is this:
Scan not read
People do not have the time to read a whole lot now-a-days (unless they are really interested in a particular subject) so “Good bye Reading” and “Hello Scanning”. In order to capture attention you have to create breaks in your text such that the human eye can easily scan, stop and read small bits.
This can be accomplished by using colors, bold fonts or a combination of the two.
Here’s an example of bad text on a blog:
Bad Blog Structure
Now here’s something I would scan rapidly and read portions of it (if not the entire post). Notice the titles, bullets and other breaks in the text.
Good Blog Structure
If I made it a goal to comment on several blogs each day, this approach will save me time and rapidly move onto the next one. In the same time I retain some good information because the major points in the blog captured my attention.
Sometimes even a picture comes in very handy by tickling the viewer’s curiosity so use them in your blog. Don’t just copy some image from Bing or Google images. Besides being copyrighted, you won’t get brownie points on originality either.
So, bloggers out there – make your readers’ life easier and incorporate these tricks into the flow of your post:
- Write posts that are 500 words or less (this is just under 360 words)
- Break the post in several chunks of text (each chunk consisting of 3-4 sentences)
- Emphasize titles, important ideas or key elements in your text for easy reading
- Do use bulleted lists (just like here)
- Ask questions and spark interest such that comments are welcomed
- Draw conclusions at the end of the post
Related articles by Zemanta
- How to Start a Blog in 5 Easy Steps (defactomind.com)
- Top 10 Must Have Plugins for New Blogs (defactomind.com)
- Why Comment Marketing Helps your in Blogging Success (franklinbishop.net)
100 Articles Written on DeFactoMind Blog
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Marketer's Schedule on December 31, 2009
This marks my 100th article in this Defacto Mind blog and fulfills my pledge to post exactly 100 by the end of the year 2009. It all started on September 16th, 2009 and in 3 months period I was able to publish this hundred articles.
Defacto Mind Celebrates 100 Articles and a New Year
Next year I will start slowly because I am working on a monster project that will probable take at least 6 months to finish. I will share with you all once it is finished and marketing commences.
I already have some New Year resolutions; among other things I want to start a new trend (or so I think although it seems PSDtuts.com is already working on it) and publish a new design every day. Instead of surfing the web, I will try to dedicate 10-20 minutes each day and publish a design (either, Photoshop, Illustrator or CorelDraw) and maybe some other designer(s) out there would want to join me. The stage is set and I welcome everyone.
That will not onlt enhance my design skills but will increase the number of works for my Design by Satori portfolio.
In the meantime, I wish everyone a Happy New Year and hope that 2010 will be better and more successful for all of you.
New Year Resolutions for Bloggers
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on December 30, 2009
2010 is just around the corner, and we’re working on our new years resolutions! Here are some ideas for bloggers out there that want to start the new year with a bang!
Article published on UX Booth by David Leggett on Decmber 29th, 2009.
End of the Year Blog Resolution
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Marketer's Schedule on December 14, 2009
Another blog project on Defacto Mind; there are only 18 days left until New Year and I decided to schedule 2 more activities and write about in the Defacto Mind blog.
For the next 3 weeks I will write a book review every Tuesday and I’ll call it “Cool Blue Tuesday Book Review”. There is really no reason why Tuesdays would be blue or cool for that matter but I just thought it sounds catchy. So, every Tuesday, after reading a book about SEO, marketing, design or social media, I’ll share with you my impressions about a particular book and recommend it (or not) to you – the reader.
Read the rest of this entry »
From Zero to Power Blogging in 3 Days
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 27, 2009
After lots of online and offline research I came up with a schedule for those who want to blog successfully and even make a living out of it.
Day 1 – The Groundwork
1. Install a custom WordPress theme for your blog
Although the web is full of blogging platforms, I believe WordPress is still the most powerful blogging platform with awesome versatility.
Resources:
18 Alternative Ways to Use WordPress
Free WordPress Themes from Smashing Magazine
Free WordPress Themese provided by Free WP Themes
Top WP Themes
The 5 Golden Rules of Awesome Blogging
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Blogging on November 19, 2009
Whenever you sit down and decide to write for your bog always communicate in plain language. Anyone who traveled to a foreign country knows that speaking the native tongue is much better that using a translator or a dictionary.
In the land of the web, things are no different. Learn the “native language of the web” and all the web surfers will read and understand you better.
5 Rules of Blogging
Here are the 5 Golden rules to harness the power of a good blog post:
Top 15 Ways to Build Your Subscriber List
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Email Marketing on October 10, 2009
Email marketing can be profitable for any business, no matter what kind of product or service you are selling. It is significantly cheaper than other advertising methods and it helps build credibility with your subscribers. As a result, you can generate more sales and profits.
The foundation for successful email marketing is a targeted, responsive and permission-based email list. If you have a list of subscribers that trust you and consider you an expert, you’ve completed the first step and are on your way!
Make the most of your email marketing efforts with the below list:
3 Marketing Spices Your Business Should Have
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Small Business Marketing on October 1, 2009
3 Marketing Spices Every Business Should Have
For small businesses internet marketing has become much easier and affordable in the last couple of years. The number of applications to do just that has increased dramatically and the small business owner is sometimes overwhelmed by so many choices. There are so many marketing challenges and expenses for small business but this should not be one of them.
Business owners should have no reason why in this day and age they wouldn’t be able to have a presence on the internet. A strong one – I might add. Technology and increase in demand has made internet marketing for small business not only attainable but necessary to achieve continued growth in the global marketplace.
Social Media Presence on Steroids
Posted by Claudiu Geanta in Social Media & Web 2.0 on September 20, 2009
Get your Social Media Presence on Steroids
Summary of Social Media Boost
Need instant traffic to your site or blog? Social media is here to help you accomplish just that.
Save time and instantly update your image on several sites. The secret to save time by focusing on just 1 site and instantly update 5 others or more.
Follow these 5 easy steps and secure a strong presence on the internet. The key, of course is consistency and perseverance.
Happy Media Socializing!
Read the rest of this entry »
