It feels like everybody has a blog these days. So long as you have a passion, and the ability to write, you can combine the two things into a compelling online blog that could potentially be enjoyed by millions of people all around the world. For a lot of people, their blog is just a side project that keeps readers up to date with what they’ve been doing. For others, the blog is the main thing they’ve been doing, and everything else is just a side project!
Only a handful of the bloggers out there make enough money from it to do it full time. That’s the hard truth. It’s not an easy thing to turn into a career, and most people who try will fail. That’s why it helps to have a few strategies up your sleeve to help you succeed. Not everyone who blogs truly understands how close they are to turning a profit, and how basic the adjustments they need to make are in order to do so. There are seemingly stories in the press every day about how someone turned a basic blog into millions of dollars. Could you be the next one? Here’s a few basic suggestions that you could easily incorporate into your regular blogging and boost your bottom line.
1. Become A Consultant
If you blog about a passion or a hobby, your viewers and readers view you as an expert in the field. They come to you for hints and tips, and to learn from your work. In their eyes, that makes you just as valuable a resource as any paid lecturer or consultant. So if you have a talent, and you can explain to others how it was done, why not make some money out of it?
If you’re a musician, you can probably teach people how to play your instrument. You could probably write a brief guide, but why not go a step further? You could sell Skype session where you give your readers one on one tutoring, where they can watch and learn from you on an exclusive basis. Charge by the hour, tell them what you know, and you’ll have a more enthusiastic fan, as well as more money. If you run a poetry blog, offer a critiquing service. Offer feedback and ideas on your readers own poems for a small fee. If you’re an absolute wizard at online slot games such as Fluffy Favourites then maybe you always give tips on how to win playing slot games and bet strategies, this makes an excellent blog and you can even add affiliate links to casinos to earn yourself some money.
2. Review Things For Money
If your blog has a strong readership, you’re a goldmine to advertisers. A popular blogger has an audience who hangs on their every word, and puts stock in their opinions. The right word from you could unlock the door to better sales figures for a company who has something to sell. This doesn’t have to come across as being forced either – if you blog about a specialist hobby or activity, chances are you use quite a few products you’d be happy to advertise.
So contact the manufacturer and offer to do it. If you blog about fishing, who makes your equipment? We’re sure they’d like you to talk about how great their gear is to your audience of fishing enthusiasts. If you have a beauty blog, whose makeup are you using? What makes it so good? How much will the manufacturer pay you to pass that recommendation on to your audience? Bloggers often don’t realize that they have the upper hand when it comes to dealing with big firms. They want to speak to your audience. You’re the gatekeeper. You get to set the price – within reason, of course!
3. Write A Book
In the old days, writing a book and getting it published wasn’t a straightforward process. You needed a talent for writing, a great idea, and a publishing company willing to put it all together for you and sell it. Even discussing the idea of writing a book might feel like a big deal to you right now. But pause for a second and think about it. If you have a popular blog, you’ve already ticked two of the boxes. Firstly, you can write and secondly, you must have a great idea. If you didn’t, nobody would be visiting your blog. So all you need now is a publisher – except you don’t.
The rise of the e-book has been a cultural phenomenon, changing the print industry forever. It liberates writers from the whims of publishing houses. A lot of online e-book retailers will happily publish a book from anyone for a small percentage of any sales it will make. And the best thing about it? Your audience are already used to reading whatever you write online. They’re almost guaranteed to buy a book from you. All you need to do is adapt your blog into a book format. So tell your story. How did you get into your hobby? What do you think people need to know in order to do what you do? What advice do you have for anyone who wants to get into your field of expertise? Write it all down – it doesn’t have to be War and Peace, make it as long or short as you like – and sell it as an e-book.
4. Sell Advertising Space
We left this one as the last point as it’s the most obvious and the least exciting, but we’re mentioning it because some bloggers seem curiously adverse to doing it. You can make a reasonable amount of money from affiliate marketers by selling product placement or advertising banners within your blog.
There’s a feeling among some bloggers that this is somehow cynical, or not what their audience wants or expects. That isn’t true. The internet has been around for a long time now, and people are accustomed to seeing adverts wherever they do. They expect to see them. They’re not going to judge you harshly if you have a small banner at the top of your page – everybody understands that you have to eat and keep a roof over your head! Many marketing websites pay per impression, or per click, and so you’ll get paid every time someone sees the banner or clicks on it. If your audience aren’t interested in it, they’ll just ignore it. What do you have to lose?
Is this an exhaustive list of the ways your blog could be making you more money? Of course not. But it’s a strong starting point, and it’s four basic ideas that most people just don’t follow through on. You have a massive advantage over any marketing or sales website – your audience know you and like you. And if they know you and like you, they’ll buy from you. Don’t believe us? Just give it a try!