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Make money with your blog and it will likely be far more enjoyable. There are literally thousands of different ways you can monetize your blog and bring tons of cash into your bank account. This article will provide you with four of the best ways to get the cash cow mooing.
But before you read on, you really need to think about whether or not monetizing your blog is the right thing to do. Some topics don’t lend themselves well to monetization. If you are not sure, then you could always ask your readers, especially if you have a mailing list.
If Your Blog Isn’t Right for Monetization
Some people will find that their blog isn’t right for monetization. In these instances there is still a way that you can make some cash from your hard efforts. Putting a donation button on the blog will help you in this way.
Not all of the buttons are directly related to donations. Some of them have cute little names like “buy me a coffee” or “buy me a beer” and they allow readers to donate set amounts of money through Pay Pal or other similar sites. These buttons can work on blogs that are suited for monetization, too, though.
Affiliate Products
This process lends itself best to sites that have an active mailing list community. Making sure that you keep in touch with your community on a regular basis will make it easier for you to sell them the affiliate products that seem most suited for them. This is a great way to make money with your blog without a lot of work.
One of the hottest sites for affiliate products is ClickBank.com. This site will provide you a lot of details and statistics on the product you are getting ready to sell. Make sure that you find the ones with the best reputation and the highest payout.
Some products pay as much as 80% commission. That means if you sell it for a hundred bucks, you get eighty in your pocket. Make sure you consider this when choosing products to sell, but don’t over look quality.
Adsense (or other contextual advertising)
The big contextual advertising product is Google AdSense. This is a means through which you can designate sections of your blog for ads. Making sure that you get the most from this involves making sure your blog is geared towards keywords that have a high online commercial intent.
OCI is a term that came and went in the world of Internet marketing, but it is still relevant. You can do some research on it and see how to apply it manually. Most of the automated methods are long gone.
There are a few alternatives including AdBrite, if you don’t like the Google Adsense terms of service.
Amazon Reviews
This is a popular way to make money with your blog. Many people include reviews to amazon.com products scattered throughout their blog. The good thing about Amazon.com is that a person doesn’t have to buy your product for you to get credit.
Let’s say that on your flower blog link to a vase on Amazon.com. A reader clicks through but decides not to buy. She comes back a few hours later and buys a dress that she had forgotten to order.
Guess who gets credit for that sale? That’s right, you! The thing is, if she buys anything within 24 hours of clicking your link, then you get a commission (so long as you were the last person whose affiliate link she clicked).
So what are some of the best ways to monetize your blog with this method? Well make sure that you are constantly publishing links through your referral account. Don’t be shy with them and include two or three in every blog post.
One of the best ways to do this is by including a footer at the bottom of every single one of your posts. You can include two or three links right there. For instance, if you publish a blog in which there is any discussion about your personal life you can include links to what you are currently reading.
If people find you interesting, then you can easily incorporate other things from your daily life into your blog that link to your Amazon.com affiliate account. There are a lot of ways if you get creative.
Sell Your Own Products
Don’t forget about selling your own products through your website. If you have a lot of viewersthat love your content, you might be able to create a special report or a product that will help them in some way. It doesn’t take much more than some common sense to figure out if your blog lends itself to this.
The trick is, most blogs can be turned into some sort of product. For instance, if you regularly write a blog about fish, you might want to write a small guide on how to care for fish. This will give you something to sell that gives you all of the profit.
The best thing is that you don’t have to share the profit with anyone. Well, you may have to share it with eBay, but that’s because they take a cut out of any money you receive no matter what. Figuring out how to write a special report or e-book can take a lot of time and effort.
The thing is, you have already created thousands of dollars worth of content on your blog, so just look through there for the best ideas on how to make your e-book. If you have a lot of comments, then you are definitely at an advantage, as this will provide you with the most ideas possible.
You can also check websites like Yahoo! answers to find good suggestions for special reports and e-books.
You just need to put a little time and effort into it. A Pay Pal button on your site will enable you to sell the product without setting up a major storefront on your site.
