Social media marketing is all the rage right now. Facebook is sexy, Twitter is fast and easy, and MySpace - well, you're nobody without a MySpace page. So where does that leave good old blogging? A has been. But, not so fast. Blogging is still one of the best ways to make money online.
If you want to make money blogging in 2009, the following 11 blogging tips offer some sage advice on how to go about it.
To Make Money Blogging in 2009, Get Back to Basics
Blogging Tip #1:
Create a Posting Schedule. It makes it easier for readers to follow you; indeed, look forward to your posts. If your schedule is erratic, it will take you that much longer - if ever - to build up a loyal following:
Posting Schedule Tip: Try to do so at least once a week.
Blogging Tip #2:
Post from Experience. Did you know that information is the best selling product on the web? And, much of it is written in a "how to" format by authors who've experienced it first-hand. So share your experiences with readers using the first person (ie, "I"). Readers will come to know, like and trust the info you provide. And, that will make it much easier for you to sell to them (which is the ultimate goal, after all). It will also build up your credibility as an authority in your niche.
Blogging Tip #3:
Choose a Niche. Speaking of niche - choose a niche and stick to it. It's where the money is. There's so much info on the web that it's impossible to be everything to everybody. So, clearly define your niche and always post with their wants and needs in mind.
Blogging Tip #4:
Interact with Other Popular Blogs in Your Niche. The most effective way to do this is by commenting on other popular blogs in your niche. Make your posts relevant. Don't just post to post. This is pointless and is a waste of time. Use the space to leave helpful, relevant feedback.
Blogging Tip #5:
Use Good Grammar. I don't care how good your post is, if it's poorly written, you will lose credibility. Never underestimate the power of good writing.
Blogging Tip #6:
Get a Clean Design. You don't have to be a web designer to have an effective blog. After all, readers come for your information. If design is not your forte, don't sweat it. Just use a clean design that's easy to navigate. A clean, simple design is like a little black dress - it's classy - timeless.
Blogging Tip #7:
Get Plugins. Plugins are things like "most relevant posts", "most recent posts", etc. They encourage readers to hang around longer. The longer a visitor stays on your blog, the more likely it is they will buy from you - whether right now or at some time in the future.
Blogging Tip #8:
Blog with SEO in Mind. What I mean by this is, center each post around a keyword phrase. And, the writing doesn't have to be bad to "force a phrase," just keep SEO in mind when you blog. Many bloggers forget this. They tend to think in terms of articles or web content when they think of SEO. But, the concepts apply to blogging as well.
Blogging Tip #9:
Don't Forget to Market Your Blog. Don't stop at posting. Get mileage out of your posts. Employ "sexy marketing", ie, social bookmarking and networking. Tweet them on Twitter, post them to Facebook and MySpace, stumble them on StumbleUpon, etc.
Social bookmarking and networking tip: These are time-consuming marketing strategies because you have to interact with these communities to make this type of marketing effective. So just keep this in mind when you start with them.
Blogging Tip #10:
Personalize Your Blog. Be you; inject some of your personality.
Blogging Tip #11:
Don't Give Up. Blogging is more time consuming than many think when they first start. This is why there are so many dead blogs on the web. But remember, success is a marathon, not a sprint. So don't give up.
If you keep these blogging tips in mind as you head into 2009, it could be your must successful year ever as a blogger.
About the Author: Yuwanda Black is a freelance SEO writer and the author of How to Make $250+/Day Writing Simple, 500-Word Articles. Ms. Black says, "You can work from home as a freelance writer/blogger in your PJs, getting assignments via the internet. I do it every day." Learn more about how to start a successful freelance writing career
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Friday, January 2, 2009
How to Make Money Blogging in 2009 - 11 Tips for Making it Your Most Lucrative Year Ever
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Why AdSense Isn't Performing Well on Your Blog
By TC Thorn
I'm fortunate enough to make a nice living from running Google AdSense on my blogs and websites, and I often get questions from folks who are trying to figure out why the program doesn't perform for them. How can you make dollars - even hundreds of dollars - a day instead of mere pennies?
In this article, I'm covering some of the most common reasons people have trouble making money from AdSense.
1. AdSense works best on niche consumer-oriented blogs
To those of us who have been making money online for a while, this seems obvious, but lots of new folks haven't had that ah ha realization yet.
If your blog is a journal of your life or serves mostly to entertain, it's not going to be a good candidate for AdSense (and - I'll be honest here - it's probably not going to make much from other programs either).
The best performers are blogs that are focused on a specific niche. Even more, that niche should have lots of products or services associated with it.
For example, a blog on home improvement (many of my sites are in the home and garden niche) can do well since there are all sorts of tools and products people buy when they're looking to remodel or otherwise improve their homes. There are also plenty of services related to this niche, everything from roofing companies to pool maintenance outfits. All of those companies that offer products or services in that niche will want to advertise on your blog, and they're willing to pay well for qualified clicks.
On the other hand, if your blog is unfocused or attracts people looking more for entertainment than information related to products and services, you'll find advertisers less likely to pay well (that's when you see those 1 and 2 cent clicks).
2. Ads must be placed prominently in order to attract attention
I noticed a gal on Twitter complaining that AdSense was making her something like 18 cents a day. I checked out her site, and lo and behold, her tiny 125x125 AdSense block was way over on the right side of her blog below the fold.
If you want to make money with AdSense, stick those ads where people will see them!
This means getting them as close to your content as possible (if you can wrap the ads right into the blog post, it's best) and keeping them above the fold (people shouldn't have to scroll down to see your ads).
Also, don't be afraid to use big ad blocks. Those large rectangles are the best performers - people can't miss them. If you want to make money from your blog, you can't be shy about placing those ads prominently.
3. Write about products or services that cost a lot
It's a foregone conclusion that you'll make more per click from a blog that reviews $500-$1000 backyard grills than one that reviews books or cds that cost $20. The profit margins are a lot higher on big ticket items, so advertisers can afford to bid more per click.
It's also helpful if the items you're writing about are easily purchased over the internet. Even though hot tubs cost thousands of dollars, they tend to be items that people try out first and buy locally. On the other hand, software packages that cost a few hundred dollars are logical choices for ordering online.
As you can see from this short list, the real secret to doing well with AdSense is to pick your niche - and start a blog - based on the potential for profit rather than adding AdSense to an existing blog and hoping it will make you rich.
If your existing blog isn't at all consumer oriented, but it has a lot of traffic, you can always use it to drive traffic to a new blog that does work well with the AdSense model. Don't give up - you can definitely make good money from AdSense (and other affiliate and advertising programs as well), if you're willing to build a site that will appeal to both visitors and advertisers.
The author earns a full-time income from running Adsense on her blogs and websites. For more advice, check out the AdSense section of her writing blog.
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Labels:adsense, Google adsense, blog info, blogs, blog for income, blogging for money
Networkers Club Blog
Most Profitable Adsense Blog: What Does It Look Like?
By Christopher Kyalo
What does the most profitable Adsense blog look like? What can a blogger intending to take advantage of the Google Adsense program learn from such a blog?
The most profitable Adsense blog tends to have plenty of pages of useful content. The Adsense program feeds off content-hunger. It is widely believed that the availability of so much free information online has dramatically reduced the hunger for information. Actually the very opposite is true. The World Wide Web is to information what the radio was to pop music sales. The most profitable Adsense blog owners have long realized this fact.
Would you believe the fact that initially record companies resisted having their songs played on radio. That is until they realized that rather than quench people's thirst and demand, radio dramatically increased it. Folks would listen to a song on the radio and line up in music stores to purchase it. The most profitable Adsense blogs will tend to serve their content in such a way that they help to create even more hunger for information rather than quench it. They do this by providing such interesting information that visitors to the blog immediately desire to know even more.
This is one of the most important distinguishing factors about the most profitable Adsense blogs.
Find out how you can learn more about the best Adsense make money secrets from an expert who makes over $19,000 a month from Adsense. Or grab my ezine on Adsense secrets for free by sending a blank email now to clickaffiliatesecrets-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
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Labels:adsense, adsense blog, blog profits, money blog, blogging for money, blog info
Make Money With Blogger
By Tracey A Edwards
Want to make some extra cash? Well with all the great free resources on the internet it is now even easier to do that and my favorite way is to make money with Blogger. Blogger is Google's free blogging platform and one of the easiest and simplest ways to get started. All you need to do is decide on a name and theme (what you are going to write about) and start posting. Now of course there are still some extra things that you need to do to make your blog profitable than just start writing so get comfortable while I fill you in on the best ways to earn some nice money from a free Blogger blog.
Before you set up your blog you need to spend a little bit of time thinking about what you are going to write about. The reason you should do this first is so that you can decide on the best name for your blog. Having keywords in your blog's title will give it a tiny boost in the search engines so choose wisely. Obviously it needs to be something that is tied in with the theme of your blog, so if you are going to write chocolate recipes then something like cookingwithchocolate.blogspot.com would be a good name. Oh and if you do decide to blog about chocolate then let me know because I'd love to try some of your recipes!
Now you can go ahead and start your blog. Head over to Blogger.com and follow the easy instructions to get started. Once you are done you can start by writing your first post.
Unsure what you should write about? Think about how you can offer your readers great value. My recipe example from before is great, or you can offer tips on how to make money online or even choosing the perfect lipstick for your skintone. Obviously you'll need to tie each post into the theme of the site so you can't just write about random topics and hope to gain a following. Pretty soon if you write everyday or at least a few times a week your blog will start showing up in search engines and people will begin to visit.
Now that you've got traffic you can put some money making features onto your blog. One of the easiest ways to earn some cash is to write reviews for products in your niche that you earn a commission on. Every third or fourth post make a review about a product that is helpful to someone in your niche. So going back to our chocolate example, perhaps you can recommend a great fondue set or chocolate moulds that your readers might like.
You can find lots of different items to promote where you earn a commission from places like Amazon, eBay or digital products on Clickbank. Pretty soon your free Blogger blog will be making some great money for you.
For more great money making ideas grab your copy of Blog Cash.
You can get a free sample chapter of Blog Cash at http://www.traceys-ebooks.com/blogcash/
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Labels:blogger, make money with blogger, blog info, Google blogger, blogger and affiliate programs
How to Build Your Money Blog
By Liam Smith
With the growth of the World Wide Web, blogging has given a platform and a voice to those of us who may not have had one previously. Blogging will help you get your message out to the public, and you can make money blogging as well.
If you would like to know how to start a blog, here is what you do. Simply do a blog search, and when you find a blog style you like, the homepage will have a link that you can follow to create a blog. After you fill out a short online form, you are on your way to becoming a blogger!
A common beginner blogging mistake is thinking that once you create a blog, viewers and money will start rolling in. Before you learn to blog for money, you should know how to build your blog. The most important thing you can do is post original quality content. When you post your content, always use the spell checker. Proper grammar and spelling will give your blog a more professional look. For more information, do a keyword search for "beginner blogging course" and "beginner blogger products."
Now that you know how to blog, you will need to get some readers. The best way to do this is to visit other blogs, and post quality comments on them. The authors and readers of the other blogs will see your comments, and they may visit your blog and post a few comments themselves. Posting on message boards and forums are also a way to advertise your blog. When you do this, search out message boards that share a common interest with your blog, and offer a link. (If you visit a blog about stamp collecting, and you post a link to a blog post about how to grow tomatoes, you might get banned for spamming.)
Building a good-sized readership is important if you are going to build blogs for money. The more readers you have, the more money you can make. There are many paths to becoming a big time money blogger. One way you can make money with your blog is by using contextual ads. Contextual ads scan your post for content, and automatically put up links to products they think your readers might be interested in. When a reader clicks the ad, you make money. The amount of money ranges from a few cents to a few dollars, but these can build up after time. Contextual ad companies have the blog tools and blog software you need to maximize profits.
A more profitable way to make money blogging is to join a network that will give you access to advertisers who will pay you to post about their products. The more popular your blog is, the more money advertisers are willing to pay you for your posts. (I've seen some that pay as much as $75 dollars for a 200-word post!) If you go this route, remember that you must still post non-advertisement quality content on your blog, and you must continue to advertise your blog for maximum profits.
Now that you know how to build a better blog, and how to make money blogging, the rest is up to you. There is no magic formula that will help you make tons of money overnight, like everything else in life; you will need to work at it. But take my word for it, blogging can be very rewarding.
For more information on Beginner Blogging visit our website at http://www.learnbuildingblogs.com for comprehensive advice, reviews and tips on Blogging Programs that you can use to build your first money blog.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liam_Smith
http://EzineArticles.com/?How-to-Build-Your-Money-Blog&id=1856714
Labels: blogging, money blog, blog info, money blogging, contextual ads
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