5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog
This is a guest post written by Kiesha Easley. Kiesha is the author of WeBlogbetter and she has a new e-book entitled “A Step by Step Guide to a Better Blog.”
Every now and then I stumble upon a blog that has not been monetized at all. No ads; no Google adsense, no affiliate links; nothing. And while, of course, I, like most people, hate to be bombarded by ads, it also makes no sense to me why someone would work so hard on a blog and yet fail to create any opportunities to generate some income.
Earning money with your blog shouldn’t be your only reason for blogging, but you still should find sensible ways to earn money with your blog.
If you’re working diligently to provide quality content that helps others in some way, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t make an effort to earn money for your time and trouble. This is not a license to go buck-wild and turn into a drooling sales-demon, but should instead be viewed as simply creating an opportunity to earn.
That means if someone runs across something on your blog that they’re interested in learning more about or purchasing, then you’re simply making that option available to them – not browbeating them or creeping them out with strange pop-ups.
For new bloggers, if you’re just starting out these opportunities may not bring in much at first, but in the long run, a few dollars here and there can add up.
By the end of my first couple of months of blogging I had earned about $200 (not saying this is typical). That’s not a lot of money, but it came in handy when it was time to buy school clothes for my children 
When you’re deciding on how to monetize your blog, however, you definitely need to take into consideration how well it will fit in with your niche. Wouldn’t it be odd to visit a Parenting Tips blog and find tons of ads about dating and male enhancements?
Any attempts to monetize your site, should gel naturally with what you’re already writing about.
Here’s 5 sensible ways to monetize your blog
Google Adsense
This is the quickest and easiest way to generate a little extra income for your blog. Google does all the work by posting ads based on your content. All you have to do is find a good place, such as in your sidebar, at the top, or bottom of each individual post. You can even configure Google Ads to display in your blog’s feed.
Just be sure to adjust your settings so that the font color and size blend in with your existing text.
Affiliate Links
Whenever what you’re writing about is directly related to a product that you own and are very familiar with, you may want to include a link to an affiliate program that you’ve joined. The products or services you promote should vibe naturally with your niche and should NOT be blatant “buy now” sales pitches.
Paid Reviews
Paid reviews take displaying affiliate links to the next level and are actually more effective than simply displaying an or a text link. A review provides insider information about a product that should be intended to help others as opposed to simply making money. Paid reviews can help your readers make an informed decision about a product or service they were considering. People want to hear from real people how things work.
Selling Adspace
This method doesn’t work well for new blogs, but well-trafficked blogs could charge $20 a month and up for 125×125 ad blocks.
Create your own product or service
People often under value their own skills and knowledge, but believe it or not, there are people who are willing to pay for what you know or what you know how to do. Don’t overlook your own gifts and talents. Create a ebook, a step-by-step tutorial, a physical product or craft, etc., and set a fair price.
Create a page on blog that spells out details of what you do and how much you want to charge.
You don’t have to settle for using just one of these methods, I actually use a combination of all of these. These are just a few ways you can monetize your site, but really, you are only limited by your imagination. Don’t be afraid to experiment and explore until you find the method that works best for you.
These are not quick, get rich schemes and in the beginning the earnings may be small, but eventually they could grow into full-time income. Who knows?
Which of these methods could you put into place today?
Photo credit: The Truth About…
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Hi Evelyn,
Interesting post, I don’t monetize my personal sites when they are first created. My main focus on those sites is interacting with the readers, and simply building traffic. As a site gets older, I might add some type of monetization.
Although my lowest paying site monetarily, My older site that was similar to Celebrate Life didn’t do too bad. I made a little over 1k monthly. That was from the affiliate ads, sponsors asking to place ads on my site, and indirectly from few website owners requesting me to write on their sites for pay.
Over the past four or five years, In my observation, I see some people rush into monetization entirely too quickly. Quite a few slap something on their blog as soon as it’s created. It sort of reminds me of a new business I’m not familiar with. I really don’t know them, but they’re trying to sell me something? No, you’ve got to win me over first. Some of those people tend to get disappointed when they aren’t making a lot of money within the first few months.
It can take time, If they ask me, I usually tell them to focus on their writing, build a loyal group of followers, who enjoy and will market your work (in case Google decided to knock your PR rating and the traffic they send your way) and with perseverance you might become extremely successful with online monetization.
Will I advertise on Celebrate Life? Outside of the occasional affiliate link I might, but I’m in no rush. I have other plans for celebrate life, and eventually I’ll put those into action. Currently my main focus is content and interaction.
Indirectly I’ve already gotten paid for having that site since a few businesses has contacted me via email about writing elsewhere. I told them my price, and I wrote those articles.
HealthyOpal recently posted..Diabetes- Can Type II Diabetes be reversed following a raw food lifestyle
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Healthy Opal,
I agree with you. I think it is important that to quality content and focus on building community first, before monetizing. I’ve just started really getting into monetizing and I started my blog back in March. As far as adding Adsense, I will wait on that, if I add it at all.
That is great that you have gotten paid to write for other people. I’m working on that myself.
Thanks for sharing!
Evelyn
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Evelyn,
Awesome post! I think that too many people worry about offending their readers to sell them stuff on their blog, but unfortunately not only are they cheating themselves out of income, they are cheating their readers out of great resources that could significantly help them.
The do-follow badge looks great on your blog!
Thank you so very much for the link and the mention!
Heather
Heather C Stephens recently posted..Personal Branding- 2 Essentials to Establish Know- Like- and Trust
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Heather,
I appreciate your stopping by! I never thought of it as cheating the readers out of great resources. That is a great way for me to look at things.
Thank you for sharing the DoFollow badge, you did a great job with those and the article. I’m so glad I found your blog, now I need to catch up.
You’re very welcome and it is my pleasure!
Take care!
-Evelyn
I agree with Wayne on affiliate marketing being the way to go it works well. However I must say I have never done a paid review, would not know where to start, any advice?
Jenny recently posted..The Google Sandbox
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey Jenny, Wayne is spot on. I’ve only done one paid review, but I will do more of in the future. Check this out IZEA/Social Spark! It should be a good place to start.
Definitely out of all those options, affiliate marketing would be the way to go. They are amazing if done correctly.
Wayne Howard recently posted..Why Everyone Hates Your Blog
Yea nice post! umm i think doing it in a nice and sensible manner matters most! well for me am not think bout that for now! lol
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Samuel,
Thanks for stopping by!
5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog – http://bit.ly/auGmdq
5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog http://bit.ly/auGmdq
great piece of info on wealth generation using your blog. Monetizing of blogs are great but i always advise young bloggers to first build traffic before thinking of ways to monetize their blogs.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Richard,
Thanks for chiming in!
One can never go wrong when monetizing their blog. I too had to introduce a couple of colleagues to paid ad space for their blogs. Thanks for this entry. There were great tips shared.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Magneto,
Thanks for sharing!
5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog – http://b2l.me/ag2d32 (via @evelyn_parham)
I do have ads on my site/s and in the past I have applied to some of the big hitters and run their ads (you need loads of impressions to qualify) no names, but some of the ads are really really poor, you can make money from them but you are subjecting your viewers to good filtered ads (no gambling p**n etc) and you get ads for losing weight and teeth whitening, horrible visually… I bit the bullet a while back and binned them off, traffic went up and the CTR improved. There are other good sites out there that will server quality ads, wont name drop.
Google are pretty good, you will get ads which is related to your content, depending on the content, depends on the amount paid per click. I’m fully with dont build it to make money, if you do the odds are you will build a poor site, its the content that makes a site good, the ads are a plus – D
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RT @Evelyn_Parham: 5 Sensible Ways to Monetize Your Blog http://bit.ly/99n1XX
I’m actually looking to eventually monetize my blog using these methods. Thanks for the great tips.
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hi Greg,
Thanks for stopping by!
[...] [...]
Excellent information on how we can monetize without being cheesy about it. Up til now, I’ve limited my money-making avenues to affiliate ads/links and taking on some of the writing offers that are coming through the blog. I’m starting to get approached on ad sales now, so that’s something to consider. The ultimate means for me though will come via product creation.
Jean Sarauer recently posted..How to Get Off the Meltdown City Express
Twitter: evelyn_parham
says:
Hey Jean,
I monetize some, but will be looking to do more soon in a sensible way.
Thanks for sharing!
-Evelyn
P.S. Thanks for the Retweet!