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One of the questions most often emailed to me is, How do you make
money blogging?
The short answer is its easier and harder than you may think.
Its easy because it requires very little cash outlay up-front, you dont need
a degree or certication, the eld is wide open, and the prot margins are
high.
On the other hand, setting up a successful blog that makes a part-time
or full-time income will only be the result of massive amounts of effort,
determination, consistency, and perseverance.
If you want to be a successful blogger, here are ve qualities you must
possess:
4
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:B79*+%7,>
Anyone can be a successful blogger, but unless youre already a celebrity,
theres no such thing as overnight blogging success. It takes hard work,
sweat, and more hard work. It may be a few months before you ever see a
penny from your hours of labor invested into your blog.
2> :;66%,,(;$ <$'==%7, C"D% E*67%F9#$% G",,9'*>
If you dont think you could write three posts per week for the next two
years on your chosen blog topic, you need to choose either a different
topic or a different work-at-home idea.
1> :;66%,,(;$ <$'==%7, "7% :%$(H:+"7+%7,>
Its great to learn from others, but if you want to be spoon-fed, you wont
succeed. Roll up your sleeves, start digging and researching. Read books
on blogging, read articles on blogging, read blogs on blogging, watch
bloggers who are successfully blogging, and do your own experimenta-
tion.
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In a market that is already saturated, fresh and unique voices and ap-
proaches are those that will stand head and shoulders above the rest.
How are you going to be different from all the other bloggers in your
niche?
4> :;66%,,(;$ <$'==%7, I7% )'*,9,+%*+>
Readers come back when they can count on you having regularly-up-
dated content. Its much better to post three times per week every week,
than to post thirty times one week every few months.
.
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Your blog name should encompass your blogs mission and should clearly
articulate your blogs purpose. Dont hurry through the process of pick-
ing a name; its your brand and you want to make sure you love it and its
something youre going to love for years to come.
Take a week or two to consider potential names. Ask a few trusted
friends to give their input. Toss around ideas, and when you land upon
ones you like, check to see if the domain name (the www website ad-
dress) is available on GoDaddy.com before jumping ahead and settling
on any one name.
Important note: Blog names can be federally trademarked. This means
that an individual or company owns the federal rights to a particular
name or phrase. It cannot be used by others or you will be subject to
nes and required to discontinue using the name. To be safe, search thor-
P
oughly online to make sure no one is using the name you come up with
or a very similar variation of it.
2> G;76@",% +@% Q'O"9* 5"O% "*F I$$ R"79"+9'*,>
As soon as you land on the blog name you love and have double-checked
that no one is using it, buy the domain name immediately. It usually
costs around $10 to $20 per year for this and its worth every penny to
have your own domain name for your blog.
I always purchase domain names from GoDaddy.com just because thats
what Ive always done. However, if you are planning to set up your blog
through Blogger (see point 3 below), its much, much easier if you pur-
chase the domain name directly through Blogger rather than through
a separate domain name service because the domain will be automati-
cally set to point to your Blogger blog. You wont have to go through the
process to manually input the code yourself to point the domain to your
blog.
I also suggest, if you want to think long-term and hope to turn your blog
into a successful business, that you purchase all variations of your do-
main name. That way, you dont have to worry about someone else set-
ting up a site with a domain name very similar to yours.
1> )@'',% +@% S9=@+ <$'= G$"+('7O T7'O +@% N%+HN'>
Not too long ago I was asked What is the one thing you wish you had
done differently when setting up your blog.
I immediately replied, I wish I had started with WordPress*.
I started with Blogger because that was pretty much the only blogging
platform in existence at the time. I moved to TypePad when the Blogger
SPAM bots marked my blog as SPAM in 2008 and I was locked out of
my Blogger blog for 10 days.
*Referring to self-hosted Wordpress that can be downloaded at Wordpress.org, not the free,
hosted version of Wordpress at Wordpress.com.
3
Near the end of 2009, my blog outgrew TypePad and I was forced to
switch to WordPress. Making the leap from TypePad to WordPress was
daunting and tedious. We had to move thousands of posts and hundreds
of thousands of comments. There were all sorts of glitches and it was a
big learning curve.
Truth be told, though it was a major headache, it was one of the best
blogging moves Ive ever made. WordPress has allowed me to have a
much more organized blog and offer many features I couldnt with Type-
Pad and Blogger.
So if I were to suggest a blog platform, Id highly recommend WordPress.
Its more expensive, but it gives you many more options than other plat-
forms offer. Plus, you dont have to worry about your blog getting locked
or outgrowing TypePad.
Another big perk of WordPress is that it has much more sophisticated
SEO capabilities (i.e. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and
basically refers to optimizing your site so it comes up high in search
engines. People will nd you a lot more easily if you come up on the rst
page or two of Google rather than page 133!). I dont do a lot for SEO
at this point, but Im all about doing small things to help improve where
MoneySavingMom.com shows up when you search for money-saving
blogs or grocery budget. WordPress makes it extremely simple to ac-
complish this.
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Back in the olden days when there werent many blogs, if you had great
content and updated regularly, youd have a good number of readers
even if you had a basic, free Blogger blog design. Today, because there are
so many more blogs, great content is paramount, but a nice design and
ease-of-use is also very important. If people nd your blog design dull or
your layout disorganized, they are much more apt just to go nd another
blog.
U
Now please dont let this discourage you. You dont need a fancy-schman-
cy blog with lots of bells and whistles. A simple, clean design that is easy
to navigate can make a world of difference. And paying someone to set
this up for you may be worth the money.
If you cant afford a designer, at least consider paying to have someone
design your header, and then take the time to learn some basic HTML so
you can tweak your sidebar.
4> G$"* K';7 G',+, I@%"F '( !9O%>
I cant tell you how many times Ive seen a new blog advertised and been
all excited to check it out, only to nd there were a whopping three posts
on it! If you want people to stick around, you need to have depth and
series and a variety of posts.
Before you open your doors to the public, go ahead and post 10 to 15
posts, plus plan out and write another 15 to have in queue to post after
you start advertising your blog. Not only will this allow you to get your
feet wet and get accustomed to blogging before you have a real live audi-
ence, it also provides some great content for people to check out when
they visit your blog.
I love Google calendar for planning out post series long-term. I also have
recently begun printing out a monthly calendar to pencil in specic posts
for each day. This gives me accountability, inspiration, and organization
well, at least its better than my former blog-by-the-seat-of-my-pants
routine!
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One of the greatest hindrances to successful blogging is trying to be
someone else. You are not someone else. You will never be someone else.
You are you!
You are unique and one-of-a-kind. You have amazing gifts and talents
that many people dont. You have a perspective on life that no one else in
the whole wide world does because no one else is you.
Learn from other bloggers, but gure out who you are, and be you.
Z. b0 L00h000!.
Its easy to become discouraged and to feel completely inadequate when
you see other bloggers who seem to have more creativity, a cuter blog,
a more-frequently-updated blog, more trafc, more comments, more
//
Facebook followers, and on and on it goes. You can spend so much time
worrying about not measuring up that you completely lose sight of what
you have to offer as a blogger.
As I used to tell a dear friend of mine who often felt incompetent as a
blogger (and who has now gone on to create a wildly successful blog),
Dont be mouse-y! Any time spent sitting and sulking about your lack
of ability, or worrying about what people will think of you, is time that is
wasted.
1> <% V*="=9*=>
Interact with your readers and respond to their comments and emails as
much as you can. Ask your readers for their advice and input and listen
to what they have to say. Your readers want to know that you value them.
And you should, because without them, youd have no audience to write
for!
Dont be afraid to try new things even if they fail. Dont always post
the same things in the same way. Throw in some off-topic posts, photos
or videos every now and then. Occasional surprises and unexpected posts
will help keep things exciting.
-> <% S%"$>
Readers arent looking for perfectionism; they are looking for realness.
We all make mistakes and we all have our areas we struggle with. Dont
try to pretend that you have all your ducks in an alphabetized row.
Be honest, be open, and be vulnerable (when appropriate). People will
connect with authenticity, but they will run from hypocrisy.
4> <% " G%7(%6+9'*9,+>
This might seem to y in the face of being real, but Im not talking about
being perfect as a person, but about being thorough and detailed as a
blogger. Frequent typos and blatant grammar errors are irritating.
/2
Sloppiness will never get you far. Always proofread your posts at least
twice before publishing them. Constantly seek to improve as a writer.
Read books and blogs written by good writers. Critique your writing and
ask others to do the same.
Please, please, please do not use massive paragraphs without para-
graph breaks. This is one of the easiest ways to turn people off from
reading your blog. Blog paragraphs should be no more than a few lines
long so that people can read them easily on a computer screen.
Three more donts: Dont center the text. Dont use exclamation
points, all caps or ellipses excessively. Dont use multiple fonts.
Use subheadings in articles that are longer than a few paragraphs.
Include graphics and/or photos on most posts. And did I mention
how important it is to proofread your posts before hitting publish?
<'*;, G'9*+W <% )"7%(;$>
If you share something in a public forum like your blog, you can never
completely take it back. Always assume everyone in the whole world may
read what you write.
Dont use names, photos, or other identifying information without
thinking carefully about the potential ramications. Its better to be safe
than sorry.
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People visit a blog more often if they know they can count on it being
updated regularly. Consistently commit to post at least three times each
week and youll be well on your way to building your readership.
2> ?"M% 9+ D%78 ,9OB$% ('7 B%'B$% +' ,;#,679#%>
If someone subscribes to your blogs feed or email newsletter, they are
much more likely to remember your blog on a regular basis.
Make it very obvious on your blogs sidebar how to subscribe, and oc-
casionally remind your readers of the ease and benets of subscribing
(giving a little something away as a reward for subscribing doesnt
hurt either!)
/-
1> )'OO%*+ '* '+@%7 #$'=,>
A great way to encourage people to check out your own blog is to leave
interesting comments on other blogs. If people like your comment, they
are very likely to click on your name and wander over to your blog.
Please do make sure your comment adds value to the discussion though.
Dont just say great post! and then leave your link. Comments that
sound like an infomercial for your blog or that serve no purpose other
than to try and get people to click over to your blog are not something
bloggers or blog readers appreciate.
Amy has some great tips on how to effectively make use of your time
when commenting on other blogs.
-> J79+% =;%,+ B',+,>
Many, many blogs (including this one!) readily accept well-written,
relevant guest posts, and its one of the most effective ways to introduce
your blog and your writing style to a new audience. As an added benet,
if the blog you guest post for has a lot of trafc and ranks high in search
engines, having a link or two to your blog on that blog will increase your
search engine rankings too.
When submitting a guest post, make sure that it follows that blogs
guest post guidelines, and carefully proofread it before you send it (you
wouldnt believe how many guest posts submissions we receive that are
riddled with glaring typos!). If it gets rejected, dont take it personally.
Ive rejected many fabulous guest posts over the years, usually because I
felt they were better suited for a different audience than mine. Submit it
to another blog for consideration instead.
4> G"7+969B"+% 9* Z%%M$8 O%O%,>
Blog memes are the weekly link-up opportunities many blogs host, such
as Works-For-Me Wednesday. There are thousands of different memes
/4
out there, and this provides a great opportunity to get new visitors to
your blog.
I recommend that you try participating in one to two different memes
each week when youre rst starting out. Track your trafc after you par-
ticipate to see which ones are most successful and bring the most visitors.
And just my personal opinion here: dont link up to 25 different memes
in one post. It looks tacky and I believe it waters down your posts effec-
tiveness.
.> C',+ =9D%"Z"8,>
Readers love giveaways. Its a way to generate buzz for your site, give
something back to your readers, and get additional trafc by linking up
to giveaway link-ups (ours goes up every Monday afternoon).
If you are a new blogger and wondering how on earth you get started
hosting giveaways, its really very simple. Read my post here for some
tips and suggestions for getting started offering giveaways.
If theres one thing I want to encourage with giveaways, its this: dont
overdo it and dont make people jump through a bunch of hoops
to enter. Okay, that was two things, but I think they are both vital for
giveaway success.
Giveaways are great in moderation. Unless your blog is primarily a
product review blog, any more than 1020% of a ratio of giveaways to
regular posts is probably too much. And make it simple for people to
enter. I promise your readers will appreciate it.
As a side note: be honest in your reviews if youre including them
with a product. If you didnt love something, theres no need to gush up
and down about it.
/.
Your readers appreciate honesty and forthrightness. Show pros and cons.
But, as Ive learned the hard way, if you only have critical things to say
about a product, its probably better to skip the giveaway altogether since
most companies arent really excited about sponsoring a giveaway where
the blogger just posts a very negative review of the product.
P> E*+%7"6+ '* T"6%#''M "*F !Z9++%7>
A year and a half ago, my husband suggested I set up a Facebook Page.
I wasnt too sure if it was worth it, but I went ahead and did it. I was
shocked at how much trafc it generated from the start and how many
people signed up as fans!
The beautiful thing about a Facebook Page is that when someone inter-
acts on your page, it shows up on their personal page. Many people have
told me they originally found my blog through a friend on Facebook.
In addition, my Facebook Page is one of the highest generators of traf-
c to my blog each month. Needless to say, Im listening more carefully
when my husband suggests I add something to my blog.
A successful Facebook Page doesnt sit dormant. It should be updated
at least once a day, preferably a few times per day. Post links to all your
blog posts, share posts from the archives and throw in the occasional pic-
ture or real-time funny story, quote or question. The more you interact
with your fans, the better.
By the way, I recommend posting your links manually on Facebook, in-
stead of using an auto-post set up. Not only does this cause you to see if
people are commenting or leaving questions, but this also shows up more
readily in peoples feeds (auto-post tends to bury posts so people never
see them).
3> [9*M $9#%7"$$8 +' '+@%7 #$'==%7,>
Want to know one way to have people nd your blog? Link to their blog!
/P
Most bloggers track their stats and incoming links and will click over to
see if someone has linked to them. They might just end up linking back
to you if they like what they see.
Now Im not advocating a you scratch my back, Ill scratch yours sort
of mentality here, but I know that some bloggers are so scared they
might lose trafc if they link to another blog. Ive found the exact oppo-
site to be true.
If you nd a great blog or blog post that you think your readers would
love, share it on your blog or Facebook Page! Dont keep a good thing to
yourself.
U> 5%+Z'7M Z9+@ '+@%7 #$'==%7,>
Back when I rst starting blogging, if you blogged semi-consistently and
were even remotely interesting, you had no problem getting readers.
Nowadays, there are so many more blogs and its a lot harder to build
your readership. One of the key components aside from so many of
the other things weve discussed in this series is to network with other
bloggers.
Ive learned everything I know about blogging from more experi-
enced and wiser people. Theyve given me counsel, theyve taught me
things I would have never gured out on my own, theyve encouraged
me when I was feeling burnt out or discouraged, and theyve challenged
me to better myself as a blogger and writer.
Find bloggers you can connect with (either online or in your local area)
to bounce ideas off of, to keep each other accountable and to share new
things youre learning or experimenting. These friendships can be invalu-
able and its also nice to spend time with people who get what this
whole blogging thing is about!
Partner with other bloggers to create series (see Honoring the Man They
Call Daddy for an example), team up with other bloggers to raise aware-
/3
ness about issues you care about and guest post on each others blogs.
Always be looking for ways to join forces with other bloggers in a way
that will benet your readers and theirs as well.
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Finally, if you want to build your readership, you need to be there for
them. Dont just write a post and then disappear and let readers talk
amongst themselves in the comments. Respond to questions asked and
interact with your readers on a regular basis. In fact, when you are rst
starting out, you might to try to respond to all comments left. It encour-
ages people to stick around and it makes them feel a part of a commu-
nity.
Even if you cant respond to every comment, whatever you do, dont just
show up to respond to commenters. As Jon Acuff says, If you only re-
spond to jerks on your blog, eventually youll create a blog that only jerks
read. Its totally okay to explain yourself to those who misunderstood
your post or are offended, but its much more important to respond to
the faithful, encouraging commenters. They care much more deeply
about you than a y-by-night nasty anonymous commenter ever does.
In addition, listen to your readers: ask for their advice, welcome their
input, and let them know how much you appreciate them.
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People always ask me, How do you do it all? I think the important thing to
remember is that Ive slowly added new things Facebook, Twitter, email
newsletter, etc. If I had tried to set it all up all at once, I would have been com-
pletely overwhelmed.
Pace yourself when setting up a blog. Challenge yourself to try new things
little by little, dont go and implement everything all at once. Pick one or two
things to focus on for the next few months. Set goals for each month, break
these goals down into weekly goals, and then work on them for 1015 minutes
each day. Over time, it will likely start to become old hat and you can add new
goals and experiment with new ideas.
However, remember to compare yourself with yourself only. There will always
be another blogger doing a better job of this or that or the other. Dont let it
discourage you. Look at the progress you are making towards your goals
even if it seems very slow and miniscule and be encouraged by that.
20
4 !9B, ('7 ?"\9O9]9*=
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Now that weve laid a good foundation for successful blogging, were
ready to dive into those income-earning streams. The rst and easiest
is afliate marketing.
For those who may have never heard the term of afliate marketing be-
fore, its basically when you are paid to promote another persons prod-
uct, coupon, deal, or website. Its typically CPA advertising which
means that you only get paid per action. In other words, a reader must
take some form of action (purchase something, click through your link
and sign up for something, download a coupon or ebook, etc.)
You sign up for an afliate program (Ill share some of my favorites in a
little bit), you promote your unique afliate link that the company gives
you, and then you are paid if your readers buy the item or sign up for the
item.
2/
For instance, I promoted Amys Tell Your Time ebook recently. She has
an afliate program that offers 50% of the sales to the afliate. Since the
ebook is on sale for $2, I earn $1 for every person who clicks through my
afliate link and makes a purchase. So, if 100 people buy the ebook, Ill
make $100 in afliate earnings.
In many cases, people have to make a purchase in order for you to earn
money as an afliate. However, there are also hundreds of other options
that require no purchase. To give you an example, Im afliate for Cou-
pons.com, RedPlum, SmartSource, and Coupon Network. If I post a
great coupon that is on any of these sites, I earn anywhere from $0.02 to
$0.80 per coupon printed (I have different agreements with each net-
work and some pay per coupon printed, others pay a at fee per print
session per user per day).
As you can imagine, since one of the key focuses of MoneySavingMom.
com happens to be using coupons, the afliate money earned from cou-
pons printed is one of the highest revenue earners. However, it is a win-
win situation, because Im sharing a great deal with you, its hopefully
helping you save money and get a great deal, and then we both benet
from it.
With that background in place, here are my top ve tips for maximizing
afliate advertising.
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Afliate marketing can be an incredible income stream for bloggers, but
there are some denite pitfalls to be wary of. You want to be very careful
that you dont just give something a great review or post about something
because youre earning something for promoting it.
I always stop and ask myself before posting something that includes an
afliate link, Would I post about this if I were not earning a referral fee
from it?
22
Z. I000!0 !h8!0 L0k8 0 \00I 08!8 08!080 0!
K';7 :9F%#"7
Ive found that its much more effective to weave afliate links into your
posts, rather than to just put afliate links on the sidebar. If youre al-
ready going to be writing about a site or product, check to see if they
have an afliate program so you can use your referral link.
1> V\B%79O%*+A V\B%79O%*+A V\B%79O%*+
It takes awhile to learn what works when it comes to afliate links. Dont
give up if you try it a few times and it doesnt work or result in any sales
or click-thrus. Keep testing things out, tweaking your approaches, and
learning what works for your audience.
-> <% LBH(7'*+ "*F C'*%,+
In the last few months, I started denoting all posts that contain an afli-
ate link with a simple note at the bottom letting you know that the post
contains an afliate link. This way, you know exactly what youre getting
here and when Im getting something in return. Not only have I received
a lot of positive feedback from you all about this change, it also helps to
keep me accountable in what I post to make sure I truly am following
my policy to have your best interests in mind.
4> S%O%O#%7 !@"+ [%,, 9, ?'7%
A few strategically placed afliate links are almost always going to be
more effective than hundreds of afliate links all over the place. Its better
to wait and only promote afliate links that really t within your blogs
mission and purpose than to post every other afliate deal and opportu-
nity that arises.
Your readers trust your endorsement more if its not something you give
as often. If you dont feel comfortable with something, dont promote it.
21
N L0II00! 10-L8I00 !h8!08
(listed in order of their average earnings from the past few months):
Logical Media
Living Social
MySavings
Commission Junction
Connect Commerce
ShareASale
Panthera Network
Coupon-printing (Coupons.com, RedPlum, SmartSource, and
Coupon Network)
Amazon
Amazon.com would be higher up on the list, but Amazon recently
bumped my afliate earnings to a at-rate of 0.8% on all sales, no mat-
ter how many items afliate sales I have in a month. Their reasoning
was that I am sending too many low-prot sales to them so they had to
change the terms of my afliate agreement.
There are also many other miscellaneous programs I am an afliate for
that occasionally will have a really great deal or offer bumping them up
to higher on the list.
Amy has a great list of many different afliate programs here, if youre
interested.
2-
4 !9B, ('7 :%$$9*=
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Last week, we talked about how to maximize your afliate earnings.
Today, were delving into a another way to make money blogging by
selling sidebar ads.
While selling sidebar ads yourself does require more work and effort, it
can really pay off in the long run. Plus, its a great option for blogs in
every genre. And if you dont want to use an advertising network because
you dont have as much control over the ads they run (well talk more
about advertising networks soon), selling sidebar ads yourself allows you
to have complete control over what is running on your blog at all times.
Here are ve tips to help you sell more sidebar ads:
/> ?"M% E+ `#D9';,
You know the number one reason most people dont sell as many sidebar
ads as theyd like to sell? Because they arent making it very obvious and
conspicuous that they even offer advertising in the rst place!
24
Most people arent going to take the time to dig through your site and try
to gure out how to advertise on it. In fact, some people will never even
realize theres an option to advertise unless you clearly let them know you
have advertising spots for sale.
Put an advertise tab in your header that links to your advertising page.
This page should include details on your trafc (advertisers typically
want to know pageviews and unique visitors), your demographics, a few
details on your site, advertising options, advertising prices, and testimo-
nials from former (or current) advertisers. You could do an elaborate
downloadable media kit like Michael Hyatt has, or just stick with a
simple page like Life as MOM has.
Whatever you do, make a compelling case for why someone should
advertise on your site. Dont be bashful; a potential advertiser needs to
know clearly why advertising on your site is going to be a great thing for
their business.
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If youre just getting started offering sidebar ads, get things off with a
bang by offering a half-priced special on your sidebar advertising. Write
up a post highlighting this special pricing and approach companies
youve worked with to run giveaways in the past letting them know you
are offering a limited-time advertising special.
With some effort and enthusiasm, you should be able to get at least a few
advertisers to bite. And once you have a few signed up to advertise, youll
nd its usually easier to nd more advertisers especially if you make it
obvious that you offer advertising (see point 1).
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Its great to start out with selling simple sidebar ads, but people will be
much more interested in all-inclusive discounted advertising packages.
2.
For instance, instead of just selling a sidebar ad for $25 per month, offer
a three-month package that includes a sidebar ad, a post write-up about
the company, a giveaway from the company, and a text link in your email
feed all for the discounted price of $150 total.
If you want to take this idea a step further, put together three different
package levels at three different pricing points. A potential advertiser
might not want to pay for your top-tier advertising package thats $500,
but they will be more apt to go for the $150 package versus just paying
$25 for a simple sidebar ad.
You can also offer discounts for advertisers who purchase three months
or six months of advertising at a time. Not only will the discount appeal
to them, it will save you time and effort in having to go out and secure
another advertiser for that slot every month!
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You know how fast food restaurants always try to upsell you? Well, you
can do the same thing with your sidebar advertising only you can do
it for free! Think of other options you could throw in to seal the deal
such as: a free mention of the company on Facebook, a free mention on
Twitter, and/or a free mention in a blog post when they purchase a side-
bar ad.
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Want to know one of my biggest sidebar advertising pet peeves? When
people have a big blank box on the sidebar that, instead of being an ad,
says Advertise Here.
This screams, My advertising space isnt valuable enough for people to
want to buy so I instead have this big blank box! Thats not the message
you probably want to convey to potential advertisers.
2P
Put the advertise tab in your header that links to your advertising infor-
mation page and link to this in a small text link underneath your ad-
vertising spots, but dont have a big blank box. If you dont ll all your
advertising spots every month, either replace the empty spots with an
afliate ad or give a free ad to a friend.
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How you price your advertising will depend upon many factors your
blogs trafc, your blogging niche, where the ad will be placed, how
many ad spots you are selling, and the demand. I always encourage
people to start out with lowball prices and gradually move up from there.
Advertising is usually priced per thousand pageviews (CPM), so I suggest
starting with $0.50 $1 per thousand pageviews and working up from
there. This means that if your blog currently gets 10,000 pageviews per
month, you could start out charging something like $10 per month for a
small 250250 sidebar ad that is located near the middle of your sidebar
or higher. As your trafc increases and the demand for sidebar advertis-
ing increases, you can slowly raise this price.
Id suggest selling no more than six to eight sidebar ads maximum. If you
have too many ads running, their value decreases. Its easier for you and
better for the advertiser if you have a few higher-paying, larger ads on the
sidebar than a bunch of small ads all over the place.
23
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Weve talked about afliate marketing and private advertising as ways to
make money blogging. Another income stream to add to your blog is to
join an ad network.
Ad networks are basically advertising brokers. You offer the advertising
space on your blog and they try to sell the space for you. If they sell the
space, they take a cut of the sale (usually 40-50%).
Some people love using an ad network. Others havent had such great ex-
periences. Here are a few of my thoughts on the pros and cons of joining
an ad network.
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Instead of private advertising where you have to do all the legwork of
selling the ad and setting up the ad, when you join an ad network, you
do nothing but sign a contract, put some HTML code on your sidebar,
and then get checks.
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How much you make with an advertising network will vary widely. Ive
heard of people making as low as $1-$2 CPM (per thousand pageviews)
or as much as $15 to $20 per CPM.
However, remember how I said last week that you could charge $0.50 to
$1 per CPM for selling private advertising? Well, thats very much on the
low end for ad networks. From what Ive researched, most people make
$2-$4 CPM on average with most ad networks. If youre just starting out
selling private advertising and havent had enough demand to warrant
raising the price, you will very likely make more with an ad network than
you will with private ads.
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While the revenue from sidebar advertising can be good, the revenue
from other advertising opportunities is usually much better. I dont ac-
cept sponsored posts, but I have done a few underwritten post series
(such as my Christmas Gift Guide & Giveaways series).
My Christmas series paid very well and I never would have gotten that
opportunity had my ad network not made the phone calls and coordi-
nated the details to close that deal. Since they are working with multiple
bloggers, they are able to attract advertisers with big advertising budgets
something Im not usually able to do on my own.
10
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I shied away from joining an ad network for a number of years because I
wanted to have control over what ads showed on my sidebar. Every single
ad network I talked to was unwilling to let me have control over what
ads showed on my sidebar.
I nally discovered that Federated Media would give me a say and
joined their ad network early last year. While some unapproved ads
have slipped through the cracks on occasion (due to hiccups with their
ad placement system), they have been exceptional about removing any
campaigns immediately if I request it. From what Ive heard, most ad
networks are not always so compliant.
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It took me a number of months and persistence, plus a kind friend giv-
ing me a shoe-in, before I was able to get in with Federated Media. The
best ad networks often have a long waiting list and few openings.
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Will they offer you a guaranteed CPM rate? Most ad networks that are
actively courting bloggers are new or struggling. Theyll make you all
sorts of great-sounding promises, but very few are willing to back those
up with a guarantee in writing. If an ad network will only guarantee you
pay of around $2 or less per CPM on average, you will probably do bet-
ter to just stick with using Google Adsense on your sidebar.
What are the terms of the contract? Is it an exclusive agreement that
would bar you from being able to run private ads or afliate ads? If so,
dont agree to it. How do you get out of the contract? Have these details
in writing ahead of time so you dont get stuck in some bad situation.
1/
Will you have control over the ads they run? If you run a blog on
healthful eating, you probably dont want McDonalds Big Mac ads run-
ning on your sidebar. Sending mixed messages to your readership is a
quick way to lose your integrity. Make sure that the ad network promises
in writing to remove ads you deem to be inappropriate for your blog.
What do other bloggers in the network think of it? One of the best
ways to determine whether or not a network is right for you is to go
nd other bloggers who are a part of the network and ask them how it
is working out for them. You might nd that what the ad network reps
promised you on the phone is entirely the opposite of what bloggers in
their network are actually experiencing. Firsthand knowledge is priceless
and could save you a huge headache.
12
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Not only are there many ways to earn income directly from blogging,
but blogging also opens up a host of other ways to earn money indirectly.
Here are ve ways Ive used my blog as a springboard to earn additional
income.
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I taught my rst online course back in 2006way back when I was just
learning about online marketing and blogging and really didnt have
much of a clue what I was doing. That rst class was successful, so I
taught another and another and another. Not only did I learn so much
11
through teaching (and hopefully imparted some helpful information to
my students!), but it was a great source of side income to supplement our
family during a lean season.
With just a few simple tools, you can teach video or audio courses on-
line. Or, you can put together a package with video and/or audio plus a
course handbook like Carries Grocery University.
Consider what are your areas of expertise and what questions you are
asked most as a blogger and then see if theres a way you can turn these
ideas into a marketable online class. Offer the class very inexpensively
the rst time around as you learn the ropes, ask other bloggers to pro-
mote the class for you (you could write a guest post for a few blogs on a
relevant topic and then link to your class in your bio), and make sure to
include testimonials from those who have gone through the class on
your sales page.
2> J79+% "* V#''M
Writing and selling ebooks is one market that is untapped by many,
many bloggersand theres tremendous potential to earn a few hundred
(or even a few thousand dollars!) each year by selling ebooks.
In the early days of blogging, selling ebooks was the bread and butter of
our business. As our business has grown and our income has increased,
Ive moved away from selling ebooks, but Id still highly recommend this
to other bloggersespecially if you dont mind dealing with the occasional
difcult customer service issue.
There are a few things you must know about successfully selling ebooks,
though:
You need to write on a relevant, practical topic. The best-selling eb-
ooks are those that tell you how to make money, save money, lose weight,
cook better, get organized, or somehow practically improve your life.
1-
Unfortunately, an ebook comprised of poems is probably not going to
sell well.
Your cover and sales page are everything. You can write a killer eb-
ook, but if your cover is cheesy and your sales page is pathetic, it prob-
ably wont sell. Hire a designer to do your cover (its worth the expense,
I promise!), and make sure that your sales page has a clear-cut call to
action, includes specic details on why someone should buy your book,
and has testimonies to back up your claims.
You must exhaust every marketing possibility. People need to see
things again and again and again in order to consider buying. Write guest
posts, get every blogger possible to review your ebook, run ebook give-
aways on dozens of blogs, and nd every other creative free way to get
your ebook out there.
If you are planning to write an ebook, I heartily recommend Sarah Maes
ebook, How to Market and Sell Your Ebook. Its packed with helpful
information and advice and is worth every penny. Also, be sure to read
her article on how to sell $20,000 worth of your next ebook.
Two weeks ago, we talked about teaching an online class and writing an
ebook as two ways to earn money indirectly through blogging. Here are
three additional ideas:
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If you love public speaking (or want to grow to love it!), you can make a
fairly good side income through accepting public speaking engagements.
If you dont have people beating a path to your door offering to y you
to their event and pay you to speak, never fear, you just need to work
on getting your name out there and building up a reputation as a highly
sought-after speaker.
14
Depending upon your blogs topic, you could offer to speak at local
events for free in order to build your portfolio. Or, you could offer a class
through your local community center for a small fee per sign-up. If the
class is well received, you could offer it on a regular basis or teach the
same class in nearby towns, as well.
If you hope to be asked to do more speaking opportunities, you could
set up a page on your blog that outlines details on what speaking engage-
ments you accept, past speaking experience, testimonials, future speaking
engagements, and how people can contact you about possibly speaking at
their event.
As an added bonus, speaking engagements can put your name and blog
name in front of dozens or even hundreds of people who havent heard of
you or your blog before, helping to grow your blog and widen your audi-
ence.
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Blogging has opened up a few doors of opportunity for me to have extra
paid writing gigs on occasion. Its been a great experience, as well as extra
cash ow. While its been a long time since Ive sought out such opportu-
nities, I know that there are many availableespecially if you are a gifted
writer.
If you want to do more freelance writing and are having trouble nding
opportunities, contact small local parenting magazines across the nation.
Many of these accept articles and pay up to $25 per article. Best of all,
since these are local and state publications, they dont ask for exclusive
rights. So, hypothetically, you could spend a few hours on one article and
pitch it to 100 different small publications. If even 10 of them run it,
you could make $250 off it. Thats certainly nothing to sneeze at!
Again, in most publications that you write for, you can include a bio
with a link to your site. You might not get a lot of trafc from it, but it
will more than likely send at least a few new visitors to your blog.
1.
4> `((%7 )'*,;$+9*= :%7D96%,
Many companies are taking notice of bloggers and realizing that we are
much more adept at online marketing and social media than they. They
want to know how they, too, can grow their business through blogging
and social media. As a result, there are numerous companies who are
more than willing to pay bloggers to give them tips and pointersor even
to take over their social media presence for them.
Consulting jobs pay welloften upwards of $50 or more per hourbut
they are more difcult to get. Usually they are the result of networking
and pre-established relationships.
My biggest tip is that you dont sell yourself short or work for free. Some-
times companies expect bloggers to offer consulting services for free, just
because, well, youre a blogger. If a company comes to you and asks for
advice on something thats going to require more than 15 minutes of
your time to help with, write back and let them know you are more than
glad to consider helping them and your fees are $XX per hour (charge at
least $20 to $25 per hour, if not more, to make it worth your time).
Your time is valuable and, unless its a ministry or nonprot or some
other company that you have strong ties to, dont give them free hand-
outs. This only hurts all bloggers when companies have the idea that they
can get hours of consulting services from bloggers without paying. They
wouldnt expect to hire a consulting rm without paying them, so they
also shouldnt expect the same or similar services from bloggers without
paying.
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As Ive dipped my toe into the world of book publishing this year, Ive
learned many lessons. One of which is that getting your book published is not
as hard as many may think. If youve built up a strong blog audience, have
a social media presence, are passionate about your subject, and are a decent
writer, you can likely get a book deal.
However, dont do what I did and just accept whatever book deal a publisher
offers you. I learned that the hard way. While my publisher has been excel-
lent to work with, I wish I would have gotten my agent rst before signing the
book deal. There were a lot of little things I knew nothing about and having
an agent to help me chart these never-before-navigated waters would have been
invaluable, as well as saving me some headaches and hassles later. But oh well,
live and learn right?
My advice? Come up with some winning book ideas and then get a great
agent. Youll not only have an advocate and a go-between for pitching your
book idea to publishers, but youll have someone to hold your hand and cheer
you on through the process.
13
I#';+
+@% I;+@'7
Crystal Paine is a child of God, wife, home-
schooling mom of three, bargain shopper
and owner of MoneySavingMom.com. She
is also author of The Money Saving Moms
Budget: Slash Your Spending, Pay Down
Your Debt, Streamline Your Life, and
Save Thousands a Year.