It’s a dream job. Write a few hundred words a day, from the sandy beaches in your romantic fantasies to the sound of ocean waves and rake in the big bucks. There are a lot of bloggers out there who aren’t making any money. But there are some stand-out bloggers who are earning money from their blog. What is the difference between the two? One found products and/or services that they could promote that solved problems and provided solutions to their audience; the other didn’t.
Know Your Audience
It always comes back to knowing your audience enough to create products and/or services that they want. If you don’t want to create products or services, then your niche has to be broad enough to attract a lot of visitors to click on advertisements from other people such as AdSense or affiliate products, but narrow enough that you know what to write about.
Build a List
Everyone who comes to your blog should be encouraged to sign up for updates and a newsletter. You can do this with a program called AWeber.com. You simply paste the code into your blog, and it will invite people to sign up. A good tip to keep in mind is to offer something to the people who sign up such as an ecourse, eReport or your free information-packed newsletter.
As you collect these names and build your list with targeted people who like to read your blog, you’ll be able to promote and recommend products and services to them one-on-one, automatically.
Create a Product
You might have a vague idea of information products that you could create and promote to your audience, but you’re not sure where to start. If you’re unsure, it’s important to find a business coach who is adept at helping people monetize their blogs. What type of products you create will be completely dependent on a complete study and knowledge of your target audience. Some niches are easier to figure out than others.
Your product doesn’t have to be new; it just has to be different. It needs to solve a problem that your audience has and be presented to them in a way that they can’t refuse.
If you have a blog about cooking, for instance, you could of course create cookbooks based on your niche. Sure, there are tons of cooking sites and cookbooks out there, but there isn’t anything else like yours because yours is by you and you are unique. You have your own perspective to offer your particular audience that no one else can. So, don’t allow negative doubts to get in your way, even in a broad niche like cooking.
Promote Other People’s Products
One of the fastest and easiest ways to start making money from your blog is to recommend and promote other people’s products. This works if you know your niche well (and you should if you are writing daily with your niche in mind) and have a good amount of traffic.
Remember, less is more. Find a few good products that you’ve tried, that you trust, that you know work and promote them. Don’t be dissuaded by low-cost products; people are often more likely to buy a 7-dollar report than a 129-dollar one. Test out different price points to see what your audience prefers.
You can find products by looking at what you’ve already purchased and then finding out if they have an affiliate program. If they don’t, ask them if they will create one. You never know. They might decide to buy advertising space on your blog. This can come in the form of a dedicated blog post that you write for their product, or even a YouTube video that you create demonstrating the product. Promoting other people’s products is an excellent way to earn money with your blog.
Finally, the way you earn money with your blog is to create multiple streams of income possibilities through a combination of advertising, product placement, and your own products and services. One more thing – don’t quit blogging. Keeping the traffic up to your blog by continuing to provide your audience with free information, building up readership and your mailing list will go far in helping you earn money blogging.