How to Make Your Own Advice Column

If you enjoy giving advice and are a good writer, you may want to make your own advice column. Starting an advice column is a good way to make money as a web content writer. It is also a good way to bring traffic and visitors to your existing business. Here is advice on how to make your own advice column.

Instructions

1. Decide on your areas of expertise. Try to focus your advice column on one specific category such as decorating, cleaning, fashion, weddings, etiquette, etc. If you are one of those people whose knowledge spans several different categories, then you may want to create separate advice columns.

2. Decide on a name for your advice column. Your advice column name should be catchy and geared toward the type of advice column you are creating. Some catchy columns names already in use are Ms Laura’s Trans Terrific, which is a transgender advice column, Miss Manners, which is an etiquette advice column, and Miss Conduct’s Blog, which gives etiquette advice for kids.

3. Start compiling questions in advance. To have an active advice column that will attract lots of traffic, you need to write regularly. This means you want to publish a daily or at least bi-weekly column. Search online for commonly asked questions in your subject area. Also, put an ad on Craigslist and other online message boards requesting questions. As you acquire questions, write an answer for each question. Give good quality advice, but try to stay lighthearted and fun.

4. Create a website for your advice column. The easiest format to use of an advice column website is a blog. This is because you can create automatic archives and your most recent advice article would be the first one a new visitor would see. You can use blogger, wordpress or a number of blogging sites. Purchase a url specific to your blog name and redirect the blog to your url name. Create a banner to upload for the image at the top of your blog template.

5. Market your site and solicit more questions. Answer questions on websites such as yahoo answers and other sites that solicit answers to questions. Place your website address at the bottom of your answer so that people might be tempted to check out your site. Only do this a few times per site so that you are not accused of spamming. Let everyone on your email list know that you started and advice column. Throw a contest for the best question. Give a prize related to your topic.

6. Add advertising to your advice column and solicit sponsors. Create a highly visible button for people to contact you for sponsor advertising. Add Google Adsense or Yahoo Publisher ads to your advice column. Consider commission junction ads and other revenue vehicles for your site.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not overload your advice column with ads this can turn off subscribers. Add one add over time to your site over a period of a couple of months, and limit your ads to three or four small ads per page.