Sunday, May 6, 2007

Make Money From Your Blog.

Andrew Wee has a great thread on WickedFire entitled "blogging for bucks."
To some of you, it may come as no surprise that you can make money simply from having a blog. (And yes, even this particular blogspot has adsense, but just because we can. Not because revenue generation is our main purpose. If it was, do you think we'd be on blogger.com?)

However, we're not writing this only for the sake of all you savvy 'net entrepreneurs out there. This is also for the tenderfoots who have yet to dip their big toe into the pool of SEO, Affiliate marketing, and more out there, so we're starting easy. So, without further ado, let's go into what's required for a successful blog.

Content is King
Original content is what draws users to your blog in the first place, whether through links, searches, or other means. Set yourself an update schedule and stick to it. Thousands of blogs are started each day, but thousands more are abandoned. If you want to make money from your blogging, you're going to have to stick to your guns while producing unique, entertaing content.

Rehashing
Don't just excerpt an article from another source, give a few of your own viewpoints, and be done with it. Readers will visit once and promptly never come back. Your goal should be to consistently produce content that is entertaining, informative, or even controversial, as long as it keeps readers coming back.

Promotion
A lot of people go about this step in the completely wrong way, spamming forums and social media sites. This is not the way to build readership, as it seems scummy and low-handed. Use "White Hat" techniques to build your audience, like commenting on other blogs similar to yours. You can link your blog in your profile or signature, but don't outright advertise on other people's blogs and websites. It's disrespectful.

Finding your niche

Figure out what your blog is going to be about, and stick to it. Don't pick a topic that's too broad or too niche. An example would be for a travel blog. What is your focus? Is it to let people know about good deals on transportation? Is it reviews of restaurants? What region are you going to focus on? Just remember, the wider the edge of the blade, the duller it is. Keep your blogging sharply defined, and you'll pull in visitors who are looking for specifics, and thus more likely to click through on your ads.

Affiliates

Sure, everyone these days is using adsense, but there's lots of networks out there. Do the research and pick one that would most suit your blogging content. For instance, if you're running an antique blog, a good choice would be a network that specializes in auctions. That way, when you're mentioning that antique oak dresser, context sensitive ads will be in-line with your content, and eBay auctions are always updated with new "old" stuff. Use your head and common sense, and be sure to stick with an established network. Look up reviews on a search engine to find the one that best suits you.

The Wrap Up

We hope this helps you in your quest to make money from your blog. Today, we just scratched the surface of blogging for money, but in the next installment we'll go more in depth and review specific categories, blogging platforms, strategies, and affiliate networks. Good luck out there!


Saturday, May 5, 2007

Stop wasting time in front of the computer.

Unless you're wasting it on our fine site, that is. Welcome to conversion. Hopefully, we'll be a good source of information on converting your site's traffic and clickthroughs into money. A few of the topics we'll be dealing with on the blog :
  • Google Adsense
  • Doubleclick
  • Affiliates
  • Monetization Techniques
  • Sponsored Links
  • Landing Pages
  • Heatmaps
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • and more!
As a quick note, we are not selling or receiving any compensation for any of the techniques or services on this site. Full disclosure will be given if and when we decide to accept any kind of sponsorship from any person, entity, or organization. Hopefully the comments will be as good source of information as our entries. With that said, thanks for visiting and good luck!