Beginner’s Series: 5 Ways To Monetize Your Blog – Part I
Don’t you just wish that everything in this world was for free, and you could just blog for fun without having to worry about putting money on the table? Now that would be a great way to do what you are passionate about. But that’s not how things work out in the real world. No matter how passionate you are about your blog, you are going to monetize your blog one way or another or look for a full-time job. Running a blog is similar to running a business. So you can’t expect to be in the red and still survive the tough times. Many beginner bloggers struggle with the blog monetization process. Unlike what you read in books, sponsors are not around to fund your blogging venture unless you have decent traffic or can provide them with unique value. So you are going to need to have to focus on other ways to make money online from blogging.
Thankfully, there are many other ways that you can go about making money on your blog. And you don’t have to be a genius to get started. There are some advanced methods that I won’t cover in this post. But if you are a beginner, you still have plenty of options. Here are 5 ways that I started making money with my own blogs:
- Amazon Associates Program
- eBay Partner Network
- Google Affiliate Program
- Google Adsense Program
- Chitika Search Targeted Advertising Program
Amazon Associates Program: one of the oldest and best affiliate programs around. A whole lot of people use Amazon to shop online, and as a blogger, you should take advantage of this fact to monetize your blog properly. You can always create wish-lists, write product reviews, and try various widgets that Amazon.com offers its affiliates. The best thing about Amazon affiliate program is the indirect sales. So when you drive traffic to Amazon, you get paid for products that your lead purchases from Amazon even if you haven’t referred them to those specific products.
eBay Partner Network: eBay has always been a big part of my revenue strategy. There are a lot of people who still use eBay to find rare items and buy things for less, and as long as you are in a niche that has products that people want to buy, you are in business. You can always cross-sell or just use banner advertising to push eBay products. It’s a performance-based program, so the better you perform, the more you get paid.
Google Affiliate Program: formerly known as Performics, Google Affiliate Program has plenty of decent affiliate programs to choose. So as long as your niche is not something obscure, you can find products to promote on your blog. Many top retailers are already a part of Google Affiliate Program, so the opportunity is there for most bloggers to take advantage and make money online.
Google Adsense Program: I used to be a big fan of Google Adsense. I used it on my secondary blogs and made a decent amount of money with it. I still don’t like those ugly text links, but as long as you are in the right niche and use the right keywords, you can earn a decent amount with Adsense. It really comes down to how much traffic you drive to your blog. The more you do, the better chance you have of making a living with Google Adsense.
Chitika Search Targeted Advertising: Chitika is an innovative service that lets you monetize your search traffic. Your ad units do not show up when you visit your blog directly, but people who find your blog from Google or other search engines will see relevant ads on your blog. The more targeted your ads, the better chance you have of getting clicks. That’s why Chitika is worth a try on any blog.
There are, of course, plenty of other ways to make money online. You should always test things out to make sure you maximize your profits without taking away from your readers’ experience on your blog. You are still going to need good content if you intend to attract and retain visitors, but the above programs are a good place to start if you are new to this game.
You may also be interested in reading:
- How to Make Money Blogging with Chitika – Part I: Premium Ads
- My Best Source of Revenue…
- How to Make Money Blogging with Chitika Part III: White Space Ads
- 5 Ways To Monetize Your Blog Directly
- 5 Ways To Start an Online Shop For Your Blog
- Amyrhiz
