Earn Extra Money Running A Successful Online Blog
Guest Post by Kris Beus Webmaster of Make Money Online
Blogging has opened up a new world for those who lack the time to learn HTML, CSS, and other web languages. Though it has become easier to begin an online presence through different resources in Web 2.0 making money is still very difficult and takes plenty of patience and time. The most difficult part of running a blog created to generate cash is the time in which it takes to learn SEO and other aspects of online marketing. The best resource out there for people new to the online business world is to spend plenty of time reading articles at ezinearticles.com and participating in the webmaster forum v7n.com/forums.
Once you gain a fundamental understanding of online marketing it is a good idea to begin researching your competition. Personally I am in the make money niche and spend a hour or so daily going over not only my competitions backlinks, but also looking through their website making sure to stay up on any new programs that are being offered to help people make money. You can apply this to any niche. For example if you run a website or blog about politics then you will want to constantly be visiting high authority news sources such as cnn.com and others to keep up with any new updates in the political world. Also to compete within your niche you will want to keep up with the number, relevancy, and number of backlinks that your competitors have. When researching the backlinks of competitors I usually use Yahoo’s site explorer which you can utilize by going to yahoo.com and in the search type link:http://www.yourcompetitor.com and it will show you the top thousand of your competitors link partners.
You should take a few months building your backlink foundation realizing that your competitors in most cases have been around quite a while so catching up will take time. Do not give up your job for your online endeavors until you have a blog that is already generating enough income to satisfy your monetary needs which usually takes at the minimum six months and only if you spend at least a few hours each day promoting and posting new content. The only reason new bloggers fail is they pick a niche in which they see monetary value yet have no real interest in so after a couple months they let the blog die. When choosing the niche (category of web presence) in which you wish to build a blog make sure it is something you feel that in a year or two you will still be able to write about. I have heard different theories on how to create a successful blog and one idea that I have seen come up over and over again is rather than create a blog which you are passionate about you should create one that consists of popular subject matter. There is a couple of reasons this is flawed first what is popular right now will not be popular in a couple months or years. The second reason this usually fails is the blogger who created the blog only because it was popular really does not know much about the topic and only hoped to bring traffic in because of the popularity. One problem these people run into is the ability of their visitors to tell that their knowledge of the subject is very limited and usually lose credibility within the blogosphere.
So once you have created a blog within a niche that you feel very passionate about and have begun catching up to your competitors which results in targeted traffic from search engines it is time to monetize (begin creating an income from your blogs visitors). Usually the most used effort that I have seen bloggers use to make money is Google’s adsense. Usually when bloggers ask on the forum how to earn extra money online, adsense will come up, something though that I feel should be mentioned is when trying to make money with a blog adsense is not your only option. If you run a blog that is mainly informational then perhaps setting up an affiliate account with amazon.com and offering books which will compliment the information on your blog would offer a higher return compared with a PPC program. Another possible option if you feel that selling books or video would not work well on your blog is clickbank.com. Click Bank is a website that allows you to set up a free account then sale stuff that compliments the topic of your blog. For example if you are running a blog on the appropriate way to fly fish then offering a fishing pole and a book about the correct way to tie flies would probably make quite a bit more than receiving the few cents that adsense offers. Now on the other hand if you are running a personal blog which really has no items to compliment it adsense would be the perfect way to monetize.
Too have a long lasting successful blog do not ever sale out. Once you have earned a high position in the SERP’s there will be many offers for advertisements. Only take the offers if you feel they add to your blog and will help your visitors/readers. If you begin spamming the backlinks which you get from other webmasters for having a unique helpful blog will disappear meaning you will drop in the SERPs. Also if your readers notice that rather than unique helpful content you are turning into one big advertisement they will drop their readership. So if you would like to succeed within the blogosphere never and I mean never give anything priority on your readability and your visitors/readers!
Similar Posts:
- Making Money Online Niche Marketing
- How To Earn More Cash Online In 2009
- Make Extra Cash Niche Blogging
- The Only “Make Money Online” Blogs You Need To Read!
- Update on Cash Blog Ranking
Popularity: 13% [?]
Very nice post and very good information. I can’t stress enough your point about giving you blog time. So many people think internet marketing is a great way to get rich quick (I used to) but in reality it is like any other business. You have to work at it.
Hi Andy,
Yeah, we may not “get rich quick” but stick with it, get multiple streams set-up, and the money will follow, slow at first but then the snowball effect takes over!
Kris is right, I have a blog too and as long as you keep the content fresh and prove valuable information in your niche you can earn well.
Very nice blog and very informative… I am not good at blogging, however this information has motivate me to give it a try…
great post thanks for the information will keep at it and keep working hard to earn that income i desire working from home online.
if u dont have tons of traffic coming to your site just yet i would hold off on adsense.
I love this blog keep up the good work. thanks for the keywordluv.
Although you make it sound easy and profitable, I do think it takes at least a lot of time to make it really work
To earn money through your blog you need to work hard if he was successful!
Hmm,..very interesting on how to earn from blog…keep it up…looking forward for more posts… try making your blog more social based.. so we can communicate with other commenter’s. nice post ..keep it up
Hey Santosh,
You can communicate with other commenters, and please do!
Very true, Aleida
No one said it would be easy, like a lot of things in this world you get out what you put in (for the most part;o)
hey really liked the blog I have a couple of blogs my most sucessful so faf is a fittness blog I managed to get first page in google for about 4 main keywords in about 3 month, motsly with aritcles and some good linking techniques
Yeah Jean,
It can take a lot of time, but if you want to make money online you need the right mind-set, and that is that most everything you do online (writing posts, articles, developing websites, etc.) needs to done with making you money first and foremost as the goal! Always ask yourself-is this going to help the bottom line or is there something else I can do that has more potential for improving my online business. I learned this from a very smart and helpful marketer named Mark Butler, who along with Courtney Tuttle have a few successful websites in the IM niche. Mark will give you a free half hour consultation that you really should take advantage of if you’re serious about making money online, it can be eye-opening to say the least!
You’re more than welcome Rasim.
Not only that Easy Video Producer, but if you want to make more than just pennies with AdSense you had better have a site that is laser targeted, and covers a fairly small niche, in other words, rather than a site about “fishing” which could get ads covering about any kind of fishing, it would be better to monetize with AdSense on a site about “bass fishing” so most of your visitors are bass fishermen and looking for info on that particular type of fishing (very targeted, in Googles eyes) and therefore your ads will also be very targeted (all about bass fishing.) By doing this you will keep your account from being “smart priced” (an unfortunate situation in which good ole Goog will only pay you pennies even if you deserve more!) and you will have very targeted prospects as well as very targeted ads, which makes Google happy, and makes you the money you deserve for your clicks! Hope this makes some sense, stay tuned as I feel a good long post coming on all about AdSense and how to make the most money with it.
You bet Teamkidmatrix.
You might surprise yourself Ann! Start out with a free blog at Blogger and blog about something you are very interested about (with no thoughts of making any money, no really it’s best that way!) Just enjoy yourself without any pressure or worries, and have fun with it.
Hi Rudy,
Yeah Kris knows his stuff. He’s got a couple of other sites you can check out Make Money Fast and Website Marketing.
You’re definitely right about the fact that it takes a lot of time and effort to start making a substantial income from your blog. It’s just like any other job, but probably more enjoyable and interesting as long as you’re writing about things that interest you.
Hi, I stumbled across your website and I must congratulate you not only for your template but for the content also. People do need this information in these times of financial crisis.
Thank you Georgi,
Now don’t be a stranger OK?
I agree with a lot of what you said. I think you gave really good advice about building backlinks. When you’re first starting out you’ve got nothing, while your competitors have already established links throughout the web. I think of all things this is the most important to get you started out, simply because its so time consuming, but necessary.
Also, you said that there are other ways to make money than adsense. Personally, I’ve never used it and I do just fine without it because I use affiliate marketing.
This is a good blog. I’m glad I stopped by.
I’m glad you stopped by too, don’t be a stranger Kalley.
nice article. nowaday, earn money by blog is easily.
There is a ton of good information readily available these days online that can help you start and run a successful and profitable blog in your spare time.
Not as easy as it was a few years back Ngan, but if you concentrate all you effort on simply making money, it’s doable.
Yes, Yes there is George, but a lot of it is self-serving, people who want to make a buck off of you. I on the other hand really don’t make any money from this blog, I just blog because I just like to help out people out. Now if and when my traffic numbers get to the point where I’m leaving to much money on the table I will add some more monetization to this blog though.
Yes money making online is very easy but only after spending considerable time and effort towards it. It has its own initial hick ups but once get aligned goes smoothly.No. its not that once u have set it up you can sit with popcorn n enjoy.Instead one should keep themselves updated about the recent changes and should be open to learn new thing everyday.
Yes Sachin,
Get some real estate build hopefully in a niche where people are looking for something you can sell to them, and there is money to be made online-no doubt about it. It also helps if WRITING a lot is something you enjoy, and if what you write is what your visitors want to read!
i do have a blog.i want to make it better. this will really help me a lot.
Your ideas and article was right on the mark. Thanks for the ideas and how to implement them.
Thank you for stopping by Allan!
Keyword Luv is a great alternative to comment luv for people who do not have a blog on their site! If you do have a blog on your site, both work great together!
George@Furniture Cowboy Blog´s last blog ..5 Simple Ways to Freshen Up Your Living Room
Online business is a very lucrative business option these days, without much capital input a little bit of knowledge one can run a successful online business in no time,being open to new things, eager to learn, trying out new things helps you run it even better.It opens new avenues for you, its ok if you are not a very good writer or cant put up anything good together, there are people available who will do it for you.It can be anything from building a website, writing a blog,opening a SEO firm, affiliate marketing,i mean anything. There are various options from where you can pick that suits you best.
So true, so true, Amy, thanks for your input.
This is such great information, and i also found out that although the economy is doing rough online sales are expected to hit $144 billion in the U.S.
Blogging is the best way for making money through online… Its great to be a part of it.
It sure is forex trading usa.
Blogging is not all about sharing your views and feelings with world anymore.But its also about earning money.A simple hobby can be turned in cash churning machine with such a little effort, its amazing to see how can we earn money with spending such little amount of time on it.But again this adds a whole new dimension to your blog, you start looking at your blog with commercial purpose and design it as such that more and more people click to it.But money do not come that easy you have to market your blog correctly to gain more and more followers.
Yeah Dimtri, bottom line is:traffic…if you can get it you can make money, simple as that!
Starting with what you enjoy writing about is great. It will give you an idea of how it is to maintain a blog and how to let people know about what you have written. And also, it could lead you to know a lot of people who knows a lot more about blogging like Jerry here.
After that, you can move on to a more serious task: create a blog to make you money. Your first blog would give you an idea of what people want when it comes to content. Stick with that. But one thing you should do differently is to find a profitable niche. Find something that people are looking for. This is where keyword research comes in. Put a lot of effort in this and you will certainly find success in your money making blog.
Yes, Earning extra bucks is really a good idea, but if you can give more about time to this work, then you can really gain from it, as Dimitri said blogging is not all about sharing your views and feelings with world anymore.But its also about earning money.A simple hobby can be turned in cash churning machine with such a little effort, its amazing to see how can we earn money with spending such little amount of time on it. Only thing you need is patience and right mind-set, there are lot’s of information available online, you can sort out some of them and start to earn…
Very true Paul, I think the one most important thing you must do is get traffic to your site. Your site doesn’t even have to be that good (a lot of them aren’t) but bring in a high volume of visitors every month and find products they want or need and there is money to be made working from home a few hours a day!
@Jerry/Kris: I don’t really agree with the point about ‘not ever selling’ the blog. I think people should find out if they are getting a good deal and flip the blog. v7n is a sinking ship, digitalpoint may also be going down but I still find some good reading material there. Helium is another site that I reading about more and more where bloggers can make money.
I agree Jim, if you got a blog that’s getting traffic and is “aged” but your not willing or unable to maintain it, why not? Sites can be worth a good bit of money!
blogs are great, there are so many options out there, i wish everyone had a blog.
I really like your point of keeping up with the competitors and following them.Now the question arises that how are you going to identify and know your competitors and the information about the yahoo search for http://www.yourcompetitors.com is mindblowing, you have touched some uncharted territories of online marketing in your article.Keep up with the good work!!
I don’t know if I want everyone to have a blog or not Matt. It seems the internet is pretty crowded as it is!
Don’t know that I understand your comment completely Jack, or the relevancy of the link but oh well I’m in a giving mood today!