Despite the doubts that many people have about making money online, there really are a number of good ways to make money from a blog - as long as you choose one that suits your subject. Here are five quick ideas to get you started.
1) Pay Per Click Ads
A number of bloggers searching for good ways to make money start out by including pay per click ads on their website. These are contextual ads that show links and short descriptions of advertisers' websites, matched up to the content of your own site for greater results. You'll earn a small amount of money for every click.
2) Sell Advertisements
This can be a fantastic way to make money from your blog, however it does take time to get your blog up to a level that will attract advertisers. You can't expect to sell ad spots for much money until you build up a good subscriber base and traffic numbers. Once you do, you can sell direct text links, banner ads, mentions within your newsletter and more. Just be sure to choose your advertisers carefully to avoid aggravating your readers. Note - if you don't yet have the subscriber numbers to sell ad spots, consider signing up to paid or sponsored blogging programs such as PayPerPost.
3) Affiliate Programs
There will be an affiliate program for just about any topic around. For example, if you're blogging about how to get organized and de-clutter the home, then you may promote links to places where people can buy storage boxes, organization books and so on. You can usually find an affiliate program for any kind of physical product, though you can promote digital products too - such as eBooks, audiobooks, podcasts and more.
4) Promote A Business
More and more companies and individuals are now setting up blogs to promote their own businesses. For example, if you're a freelance copywriter you may choose to blog about ways in which businesses can improve their ad campaigns. You'll soon start attracting the kind of readers who may be interested in buying your services, while building your brand as an expert copywriter at the same time!
5) Sell It!
Selling your blog definitely isn't a way to make ongoing money from your blog, but there are times when this becomes the best option. Perhaps you are really desperate for the cash, or you've just lost interest in the subject matter. If that's the case then selling it could earn you a nice chunk of cash - especially if the blog is already earning money, gets good traffic and has a number of loyal followers.
You may find that you have to experiment with these five good ways to make money from your blog - what works for one may not work for another. It all takes time, but if you steadily work on building traffic and readers, your earnings should follow.
