You write a blog just for fun. You have a venue to share your thoughts, opinions or perhaps even expertise on something. You enjoy blogging, and it seems to show with the increasing number of people who read it. What if you could still blog as you are, keeping it fun, and still earn a little money each month?
Google AdSense
The most well-known venue, AdSense by Google places on your blog ads from pay-per-click (PPC) marketers. The ads are supposed to relate to the topic of your blog, so no contradictory information is discovered by search engines, everything on the blog relates to the same general topic. Each time one of your blog readers clicks on the ads placed there, you get a portion of what Google is paid by the PPC advertisers. It doesn’t matter if the reader purchases something on the advertised site; you get paid as a via-advertisement referral source.
Sponsored Ads
Separate but conceptually related, finding your own advertisers and selling them advertising space on your blog can create a passive income stream that can supplement any other form or stream you can implement. It takes a little initiative to find sponsors, but for a modest fee, many merchants will strongly consider another advertising venue that fits well on your blog. Again, just make sure the merchant‘s products or services relate to your blog.
Affiliate Programs
Far easier than it sounds, promoting products that directly relate to and pertain to your blog topic can be a quick and easy income stream. Simply sign up as an affiliate, post embedded links within your blog and mention the product or description occasionally. Use the anchor text, the words in which you place the link, wisely; don’t use such words as ‘click here’ or ‘download’ but text that relates to both the blog and the product link. One of the biggest advantages to passive affiliates is that you don’t need marketing or sales experience. You just choose a product and post a link in your blog.
ClickBank is one of the largest and most reliably-paying affiliate product site on the Internet, but others exist as well, such as PayDotcom or Blogads.
Skimlinks
If you mention merchants in your blog, sign up for Skimlinks. This program automatically changes your merchant links that you use for product display into affiliate links if the merchant has an affiliate program. The link won’t look any different than a normal link, but if the reader purchases something from that site, and your blog sent them there, you get a commission.
Subscriptions
Use your blog as an advertising venue for your own specialized, subscription-only newsletter. Monthly publication and mailing can over time build into a respectable income stream. Make the newsletter topic highly relevant to your blog and the price very reasonable with lots of bonus information, and you can build a list very quickly.
The 5 options here are only a few possible ways to make your blogging hobby an income source. Little or no expertise is required, merely the ability to read instructions, for any of these. Spend the same time blogging you already do each week; keep your blog on target, and you could earn a passive income in a very short time.
JC Ryan is a freelance writer for MyCollegesandCareers.com. My Colleges and Careers helps people determine if an online education is right for them and helps them understand which online courses and online schools they can choose from to reach their goals.
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