There is More To Your Blog Than You Think!

It’s surprising how many people come to believe that you can make money from your blogs with just ads. Just put up a blog and put Adsense on them, and you are good to go. But that’s a Hollywood story. You are not going to make too much money with ads. There are people who claim they do, but you don’t have to look too far to figure out their strategy. All these folks have other avenues to earn money online. They are writing books, creating premium products, and doing all kinds of things to make money online. I am not suggesting that you should stop putting ads on your blog. That’s ultimately between you and your readers. If they don’t prefer to see ads on your blog, that’s probably something you should consider. But ads may pay your hosting bills, but they shouldn’t be your only source.

Blogging is a great way to gain exposure online. If you keep providing value to your readers, you are going to gain more of them, and that will allow you to build a larger, tighter community. But at some point, you’ve got to stop looking at your readers as potential clicks and more as folks who are interested in knowing more about what you have to say. If you spend your days researching online and sharing your thoughts with people, you might as well try to give them more in exchange for some cash. And in order to do that, you’ve got to work on your branding. You’ve got to brand yourself and work on complimentary products that provide more value to your readers and make you some revenue on the side. The more value you provide on your blog, and the more trust your build with your readers, the more powerful your brand becomes, and the better chance you have of making money from your premium works.

With that in mind, here are a few ways to make money from your blog, besides using Adsense:

• Premium Video: premium videos are a great way to make money online. Take SEOmoz. They have free videos available to their members, but they also sell premium SEO courses. And why not! They have one of the best brands in the SEO world.
• Membership: depending on your niche, you may be able to monetize your blog by creating a premium membership service for those who are interested in getting more information and are willing to pay for it. Make sure you provide real value before charging people for your content. Create tools, reports, and even software programs to create an effective membership site.
• Podcast: creating your own podcast may not generate instant revenue for your blog, but you can always sign up sponsors. And you can also create audio courses from your Podcasts. You can also provide your podcast archives available to your fans for a free.
• Book: you can also take a page out of Darren Rowse’s books and write a book. Not everyone can do that. And Darren has one of the best brands in the blogging world to back his book up.
• Product: any other type of product that provides your customers with some value can generate you revenue. Some folks have started teaching people how to start a video blog. Others are selling courses on the basics of promoting blogs on the Internet. The sky’s the limit here. Think outside the box!

There you have it. You don’t need Google Adsense to make a killing online. If you have had a blog for a few years, you probably have enough content to create a product of your own without having to start from scratch.

Your take: when are you planning to offer your first product online? Please share!