There’s more than one way to skim dollars off your blog. Here are some serious, and some not-so-serious techniques.
Sell Ads
The only way to make money by selling ads on your blog is to be rich or famous first, and then write about how you became rich or famous.
Before you say “But what about…?”, yeah, I know there are a few exceptions. A few. And most have 4-5 writers working in sweatshop conditions to crank out posts so fast their fingerprints have melted off.
But, that won’t stop you from trying. So go ahead. Take your blog that gets 5,000 visitors per month and stick some Adsense ads up there, or even better, try to sell ads direct.
Go Affiliate
You can also hawk other people’s wares. Sell enough Acai Berry for Frank’s Supplements Emporium and you can make a bundle. Sell a few really high-priced items and you can make some nice change, too. Use Market Leverage or someone similar and you get great, helpful people to help you pick the best possible offers, too.
Affiliate marketing isn’t a bad racket, actually. But you need to pick products you can stand behind, and pick your affiliate network carefully. When I started out, I got ripped off, and I still occasionally run into situations where I don’t get paid for, oh, 4-5 months.
Steal & Cheat
OK, I’m being a little harsh. If you want to Stick It To The Man, figure out 30 ways to fool folks into clicking on hidden Adwords ads, steal other people’s content and risk their fiery wrath, or sell your e-mail list to the highest bidder (for $.03/e-mail).
The internet is still young, and there are plenty of ways to wring cash out of advertisers or the unsuspecting via your blog. Just don’t ask me how.
Create Your Own Product
Create your own training course, e-book, book or other product and sell the crap out of it. On the plus side, you control your own destiny. Create something great and it just might stand out from the 999,999 other training courses, e-books and other self-created products that every other blogger is hawking non-stop. On the down side, there are 999,999 other training courses, e-books and other self-created products. Plus writing, producing and launching an entire training course may lead to permanent nervous ticks.
Use Your Blog To Build Your Business
A 100% guaranteed route to success, if you’re willing to put in the effort, is to use your blog to build your business. You do that by:
- Demonstrating your expertise.
- Building your SEO leverage with great, link-worthy content.
- Creating a history and a tone to which you can introduce prospective clients.
- Building a body of knowledge that establishes you as an expert.
- Generally building your presence among potential customers.
- Inviting others to come read your latest creation.
It’s not easy. It takes a long time. But it works, beautifully. I have yet to see someone who writes insightful, thoughtful stuff 1-2 times a week fail at it.
Your Choice
What strategy do you want to try? It’s your choice. Just go in with open eyes and a long-term plan, and the worst that happens is you work your way through until you find a strategy that works.
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