How to Make Money Blogging
Turn a Hobby or Interest Into Cash with a Topic Focused Blog
Aug 30, 2009
There are lots of amazing stories about bloggers making insane amounts of money online. While a few rare bloggers do get rich or make a living writing blogs, most blogs have few readers and bring in little or no income. That doesn’t, however, mean that a blog can’t be monetized to rake in a little mad money or even enough to cover a mortgage payment.
Topic Focus is the Key When Blogging to Earn Money
It’s highly unlikely that a diary-style or "blab" blog will attract enough readers to generate advertising revenue. While mom and a few close friends may be interested in day-to-day activities, most onliner surfers will shun vanity blogs.
Although, online posts about dating and trips to the doctor will likely fail in terms of monetization, there are many hobby and interest topics that can be leveraged for public consumption. The key is to select a topic building on a personal knowledge base and a genuine interest. If a blogger can't muster up some enthusiasm for the topic, then it’s highly unlikely that readers will.
Good topics are limitless. Sports enthusiasts can build blogs talking about gear and provide valuable information for other players. Handy men and women can leverage home projects with targeted blogs including how-to tips to teach the top in the blogosphere. Home grill chefs? They can share tips and recipes to help other outdoor cooks. Travel? Those experiences on the road can be invaluable to others. Or, attractions right down the street can be shared with an "insiders" perspective.
Virtually any passion can be used as a base to build an interesting blog.
Quality Content is Critical When Writing with an Eye on Online Income
Tossing up substandard blog posts with little information may bring in readers initially, but sites lacking in substance quickly sink. Readers don’t return or share links to low quality blogs. And, search rank reflects the patterns of online visitors and the incoming links. The cycle becomes a spiral downward.
The best blogs offer value including good quality material as far as the written content, outgoing links, and graphics (photos, videos). The reader should be pleased with the content offered and should be inclined to return for new data as it's posted.
Getting the Word Out and Marketing a Blog is Essential
A blogger can have a wonderful idea and great posts, but if no one knows that the blog exists, then the blog won’t have traffic and an income stream.
A good place to start promoting a blog is with family and a circle of friends. Then links can be added to message boards, facebook, and Twitter. But, promotional links should be limited. If a blogger's only social interactions involve promoting personal writings, then the reception may be pretty chilly after a while.
Staying the Course is Required for Successful Blogging
Success does not happen overnight. A new blog generally does not perform particularly well. It simply takes time for a space to grow in terms of content and for an audience to grow. Bloggers should expect to spend a year or more in development which includes posting frequently and promoting the blog space. And, a blogger can't let up when th blog begins to gain momentum. There are always others out there blogging on the same or similar topics, and if a blog sits and gathers dust, then the more active blogs will catch up and pass the ones that appear to be unloved or abandoned.
Enjoying a Blog and Making Some Money to Boot
With time and effort, blogs do pay off. It may be a few cents to start with. Then, it becomes a few dollars. After a while, some bloggers may have a steady income stream that covers little splurges or even, in some cases, enough cash to blog full time.
The trick to having a financially successful blog is in selecting a narrow topic focus of interest, working hard on the content so that the blog has value to online readers, and promoting the blog so that others are aware of its existance. Then, it's a matter of keeping the blog up and running with new content on a regular basis.
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