No More Poverty for Writers – Making Money with a Blog
April 9th, 2008 by moniesWriting is one of those careers where you would either make it big or end up in poverty. The difficulties of finding a publisher to print and sell your novel or a magazine to take in your column cannot simply be described. Luckily, this image of a writer may already be a thing of the past, thanks to the recent technological advancements.
While in the old days, individuals in the writing profession had to rely on other people to earn; today’s writers can now generate an income out of their craft by turning their passion into business. Hard as it may sound, this endeavor can indeed be an easy-to-achieve possibility with the use of blogs. Surprising, as it may seem, you can indeed be making money with a blog by just whipping up your hidden writing talent.
Whether you are new to the world of blogging, or you have been typing your entire life on the Internet for years, making money with a blog is a possibility that you can accomplish. Here are some few tips that could help you do so:
1. Earn using Google - What was once just a search engine is now among the most powerful enterprises throughout the world, not only in terms of its reach, but also in terms of its income generating possibilities. You can earn from Google by using their free service known as AdSense. All you need to do is have a blog and sell space within your page for ads to be posted by AdSense. The service would then allow you to display ad units – ad boxes – that would display advertisements related to the topics you write about in your blog.
For instance, you wrote about the sweater you just knit, and then the ad unit might display ads about sweaters or knitting. Every time your visitors click on any of these ads, you would get a certain amount. When your earnings reach at least a hundred dollars, Google would then send you a check.
2. Promote Other Profitable Sites- a lot of online businesses offer affiliate programs. These work by you having their ads posted on your blog. When a visitor clicks the ad and then purchases something from that company, you would then receive a commission or a referral fee. A lot of the bigwigs of Internet shopping run such programs including Amazon.com, LinkShare, and Lands’ End, among many others. The percentages you can earn from their sales vary depending on the company’s policies.
3. Be an Ad Salesman – The downside of Google ads and affiliate programs is you do not really have much control on your earnings and the ads that are displayed on your blog. If you want to play more seriously in the ad selling game, then you can use BlogAds’ free databases where you can set prices for advertisers to post your blog. Some companies look for blogs that match their products and services and rent ad space the way they do with those traditional billboards you find along the freeway. You ad space can then be leased for a certain period of time. You would just need to pay 20 percent of your earnings to BlogAd.
4. Pass the Hat – While begging may not be so attractive as a means of getting many, doing it in style – online, that is – could be quite appealing, and not to mention profitable. There is nothing wrong about asking for money, and you could indeed make money if you ask nicely or if people like you (and your blog).
Many blogs have donation buttons on them. And true enough, many avid fans and visitors may be willing to share some of their wealth to you as a sign of appreciation for your well-written, compelling, and riveting blog. Donation buttons may be availed from PayPal, the famous escrow service, who would get a little out of your earnings when people do decide to spare some change. Similar options are offered by Amazon (Honor System) and BitPass
5. Start a Gift Shop – if your blog becomes popular enough that hoards of people all over the world visit it everyday. Then you may then profit from selling souvenirs. And the good news is you would not have to press your logo on those T-shirts or coffee mugs, CafePress would do it for you. CafePress offers to sell for you anything from those cute buttons to daring thongs. The selling price is up to you; you just need to pay them the base price of the products.
Making money out of a blog is not as hard as it seems. But of course like in any other moneymaking venture, you have to do your job and do it well. Soon enough your days as a poverty-stricken bard would be over.
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