How to Make Money Blogging

Anyone who has been around the Internet or the writing industry has come across stories and articles of people making enormous amounts of money through blogging. I'm a naturally curious person and wondered how this is done.

In this article, I want to share what I've found that can help people who want to pursue this idea. You may honestly never build a blog up to the $1,000+/day that some professional bloggers make, but I think even small amounts of money can still help a lot of people (myself included).

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• The desire to pursue the idea of blogging for income.

1. First, I want to explain that I've found blogging to be like any other business. The good news is it takes practically no overhead--a person could even start it from a public library if they have no extra income to invest into it.
   
   To balance that out however, if you want to be successful you're going to have to put a lot of your effort and energy into it. That includes educating yourself, developing your writing, and being patient enough to let the results arrive. Unlike a job, this will be irregular income, but it at least has the potential to grow to more than you could make at a job.

2. There are several websites out there that offer free blogs, but my current favorite is Blogger.com. When your income reaches the point where it makes sense, you can get your own domain name and hosting very inexpensively. You don't have to pay any money however to start making an income from affiliates such as Google Adsense, Amazon, and eBay. I looked at it from the point of view of getting the blog to pay for itself and then grow it from there.

3. Also like traditional businesses, niche areas are generally good things. If you're an expert in a certain field or passionate about a certain topic or hobby, people out there may value what you know. It doesn't mean you have to limit yourself, but keeping the theme or topic of a blog consistent will help readers know what to expect. Then just use different blogs.

4. Marketing helps as well. Talk to people about what you do. Have your blog in your e-mail signature and on business cards. If you interact a lot in your niche area, it's not difficult to find people of similar interests who would like to keep up with your blog. Again, just start small and work your way into it.

Tips & Warnings

• Try new things when you first start out to see what works and doesn't work for you. Keeping up with information about the field and what's working for other people can help you as well.
• Don't get discouraged that you just make pennies at first--they do add up and increase.

Resources

• ProBlogger.net (Helpful website)
• Blogger.com
• How to Create an Marketing Campaign for Online Writing
• More How-to Articles by Cougar1002
• List of Known Paid and Reward Websites That Are Legitimate (Have Been Tested)
• Writer's Reference Directory--Updated Version
• Cougar1002's Article Blog and Portfolio

[Malzeke]

on 11/17/2008 Very honest and helpful.

[kiratrever]

on 10/16/2008 Thanks, I will follow this advice!

[bhoskin]

on 9/27/2008 I enjoy your article and my favorite site is Blogger also. However I still need more traffic to get notice. I have 2 blogs going right now. Keep sharing your info.

[CathyHHill]

on 8/29/2008 Wow! I have two words for this article

THAAAAAAAAAANK YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!!

[taskeinc]

on 8/15/2008 Really good tips.. you are absolutely correct on getting a blog started .. and then you have to get an audience .. that's what I am in the process of doing is building an audience or establishing a network of people who want to work from home without paying a dime ..