This is the first part of a series of posts about blogging to make money.

 

You have probably heard about people who blog for a living. If so, then you’ve also possibly thought that it would be really cool to do the same, such as being able to live and work anywhere in the world and all you have to do is write an article a few days a week. It could happen for you but a lot has to happen first.

A blog is essentially a web page that gets updated frequently, usually by adding new content as opposed to editing previous posts.

In case you weren’t aware, applications such as Facebook and Twitter are what are known as “microblogs”, but I’m going to discuss what are generally accepted as “regular blogs” here.

They generally take several different forms, personal, corporate, promotional, information blogs. Here, I will start with the most common:-

A Personal Diary Or Commentary

This is probably the most popular form of blog used, as many people decided to put their daily lives and observations on the net for all to see and comment on.

If you intend to make any money from this form of blogging, and it will not happen overnight, you need to remember a few things –

Keep It Interesting

You have to look at your writing and ask if other people will want to read it, why they would want to read it, and would they wish to come back and read your next blog entry. The vast majority of people out there don’t care about you, your kids or your friends and neighbors, so you need to make it relative to the reader. Save your vacation snaps, pictures of the meals you are eating and videos of your kids and pets doing cute things for Facebook and Instagram, etc.

Again, if you want to make money with this, you need to grow an audience who will tell others and spread the word for you, so the subject must be something other people can relate to or find interesting. The most popular of these kinds of blogs are dealing with things such as weight loss, your take on personal investing, certain parental issues – these things affect pretty well everybody and are ongoing for many.

Subjects such as going through a divorce, having a baby, your local football team, etc. only affect a small percentage at a certain time and your audience will be transitory.

You Have To Know What You’re Writing About

With a personal blog, you should try and get a reaction from the readers if possible, you can be as controversial as you like (within legal limits of course) as long as you have enough knowledge and expertise of your subject so that you can defend your position. If you are trying to be controversial, you need to provoke the reader enough to get a reaction so that they respond.

If You Can’t Take It, Don’t Dish It Out

Be warned that some of the responses can be vicious and the online world is full of “internet trolls”. These people get their kicks out of taking a contrary position to you, the writer, and deliberately post inflammatory remarks – many of their comments are personal and intended to offend, upset and in extreme cases, intimidate.

You do however have what is effectively the last say on your blog, because you can control the comments from outsiders, as to whether they get published or not. If a comment is critical of your article, that is OK, so long as it has some merit and you can respond in a similarly constructive way. This will encourage readers to engage more with you as they know that their point of view will be expressed.

This engagement with the reader is what you will need to eventually make money from your blog because hopefully more people will hear about you and your audience will grow.

Now Try And Make Money From It

When you have your audience, you will have the opportunity to promote something to them.

I strongly recommend, especially at the beginning, that you don’t throw up random ads, such as Google Adsense Ads. These ads pop up in the middle of your post and, to many people, have the appearance of “in-your-face” advertising. When you are trying to build your audience or community this will be a major turn off if the first thing they see is a big ad in the middle of the screen. Another reality is that these ads pay so little that unless you have major traffic the income will be negligible.

I recommend that you find a particular product that is relevant to your blog articles and attempt to lead the reader to check out what you are attempting to promote. Remember, you want to keep your readers also, so make the product something that is of quality and will be of value to them. If you don’t have your own product, then an affiliate link is the way to go. This can be an “Amazon” item, or any product that offers an affiliate program.

Don’t turn your blog into an advertisement – I suggest that at some point in your article you find a suitable spot to introduce the product. For example, if your blog is about golf, you can mention that you tried out a new kind of golf club and suggest to the reader that they should check it out for themselves by clicking on your affiliate link or ad.

Again, don’t make your blog article strictly about the products you promote.

Which Leads Me To…

To set up a successful blog, you still need great tools and training. Here, you can get that and it’s absolutely free to try out for as long as you like – you can even start and keep your own blog for FREE, and there is no time limit on the free materials.

Check it out here or by clicking the link below (and put your credit card away – it’s not needed).

 

 

My name is Joey, and I’m always available to help out in any way I can. Please leave me a comment below, or you can contact me through my profile at Wealthy Affiliate