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Webopedia defines a blog as “a Web page that serves as a publicly accessible personal journal for an individual. Typically updated daily, blogs often reflect the personality of the author.”
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Blogs have become a popular tool for both businesses and individuals to
share their voice, thoughts and musings to the world. Some blogs are created
to give a more “humane” face to a business, allow interaction with
customers, even as a tool to generate traffic. Others write blogs to share
their passions and attract like-minded individuals.
Whatever the reason for creating a blog, the next question is: What can
you do to make money from your blog?
Here are steps to starting a blog and earning money from your writings:
1. Set up your blog.
You can have the option of using their URL (e.g.
http://widgetsblog.blogger.com) or use the blog software in your own domain
name (http://www.widgetsblog.com). Some of these are free, while some has
monthly/annual subscription
Here are some places that will allow you to create your own blog
However, if you are thinking of using your blog to earn money, you need
to check first with the blog platform whether they allow ads to be put on
the blogs. Some blog platforms have strict policies and will delete your
blog if you put ads on them. Blogger.com, being owned by Google which also
runs the contextual advertising program Adsense, is one of the ads-friendly
blog platforms around.
2. Create great content.
Everything starts with
content. With great content, you can attract more traffic and more engaged
visitors, which gives you higher likelihood of monetizing your blog.
Why will they want to read your blog? Why will they want to spend their
time in your blog? Provide value, useful information and other benefits to
the readers. Your blog can contain up-to-the-minute news and analysis; or it
could be a witty and amusing look at pop culture. Give a reason why visitors
will frequent your blog.
3. Get traffic to your blog.
You can't earn from your blog if the blog
does not have traffic. Many make the mistake of believing that once they
create a blog, people will immediately flock to it. There are millions out
there so why would they visit your blog?
Getting traffic is going to be your biggest challenge. Here is a
comprehensive list of places where you can list your blogs and syndicate its
content -
Resources for Marketing Your Blogs and RSS Feeds
One useful technique for getting traffic to your blog is to use
carnivals. Carnivals are a technique for showcasing your blog. Carnivals
occur once a week to once a month, and you need to submit your blog post to
the carnival moderator. Find blog carnivals that fit your topic at
BlogCarnival.com http://blogcarnival.com/bc/
4. Think of how to monetize your blog.
One of the most common ways of
earning money from blogs is through advertising and donations. Here are some
ways you can earn money from your blog:
Contextual advertising programs
- Google Adsense = Adsense is one of the
easiest to join and best way to make money from blogs, and Google’s
ownership of Blogger.com makes it easy to start earning from blogs
- Yahoo
Publisher Network = in addition to their
contextual advertising program, also offers RSS advertising
- Chitika
eMinimalls = contextual advertising that pays per
click and focuses on product-based advertisers
- WidgetBucks
= pay-per-click shopping widgets
Blog-specific ad networks
- Federated Media Publishing = ad network
that represents high traffic and most influential blogs offering mostly
through CPM and flat rate advertising
- Blogads.com = ad network for
influential blogs
- CrispAds = offers keyword targeted text ads
(not contextual)
- AdGridwork =
an advertising network offering text ads; as well as a traffic exchange
network
RSS Advertising
- Feedburner = text link ads
in RSS feeds are offered by CPM basis
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Moreover’s Feed Direct
= advertising program which inserts contextual ads in the RSS feeds (in
partnership with Kanoodle)
- Pheedo = RSS ads are
both CPM and CPC basis, and appear at the end of each post
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BidVertiser Ads
For Feed = the
contextual ad agency now offers an advertising program for RSS feeds
- Feedvertising = run text link
ads in RSS feeds via flat rate pricing (not CPM or CPC)
- OrangeFeed
Other sources of income
- Text link ads - you can sell for fixed price for a fixed period of time
- Donations (yes, you can beg)
- Affiliate programs such as Commission
Junction http://www.cj.com and the Amazon Associates program
February 2008
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