Yes, You Can Make Money With Your Blog! 5 Tips for Blogging for Writers
I make money with my blogs, and so can you. These tips for blogging for writers will help you monetize your blogs so you can actually earn a living as a blogger and writer. It’s all about developing passive sources of writing income and finding your writers’ voice. Here’s what I recently learned about making money on my blogs — blogging tips I wish I would’ve known a year ago!
Before the tips, a quip:
“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.” – Cyril Connolly.
Whether you’re blogging for yourself or “the masses”, make sure you’re not adding information to the world that you wouldn’t want to see in the world. Make sure your blog is useful, helpful, relevant…and financially successful! Blogging 100 Success Secrets – 100 Most Asked Questions on Building, Optimizing, Publishing, Marketing and How to Make Money with Blogs is a great resource for bloggers and writers — and I hope my tips help…
Yes, You Can Make Money With Your Blog! 5 Tips for Blogging for Writers
1. Balance keyword strategy with voice. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) may attract readers to your blog – which can increase the money you make – but it’s difficult to balance SEO with your writing voice and style. This is still a struggle for me; sometimes I feel like my voice is lost in my keywords! But, if you want to make money blogging, you need to practice until you find your balance. Just like non-web writing, skillful blog writing takes years of practice. For help with search engine optimization, read SEO Tips for Writers and Bloggers.
2. Put Google Ads inside your blog posts. I know some writers and bloggers think ads are tacky – and I myself don’t love an ad smack in the middle of my articles – but, I really want to earn a living as a writer and blogger, so in they go. Maybe I’m selling out, maybe I’m making a smart business decision…I don’t know yet. But I do know that my Google revenues increase when ads are in the middle of my posts.
3. Don’t fill your sidebars with ads. My Quips and Tips for Achieving Your Goals blog once was littered with all manner of gigantic flashing, blinking, and bleeping ads along the sides. It was painful even for me – and completely ineffective! To make money with your blog, keep your ads to a minimum.
4. Place a specific, relevant affiliate ad inside your post. Let’s face it: if you want to make money blogging (and not be another starving writer), you need ads. Explore the affiliate programs at ClickBank, Commission Junction, or LinkShare; put a small link or banner in your post after ensuring it’s relevant to your topic. Amazon also has a great affiliate program – read Amazon Advertising Tips for Bloggers and Writers.
5. Experiment with Chitika Ads. Darren Rowse at ProBlogger has said that Chitika is his number 2 way to make money blogging. I tried Chitika on my blogs for a couple of weeks, decided there were too many ads in my sidebars, and eliminated them….without checking to see if they were earning money! I discovered that they were earning money, and decided to give them another try.
Building a blog that actually makes money is a long process. It takes time to figure out what ads work on your blog, where they work best, and why. But, once you figure out your “secret formula”, all you have to do is write your blog posts and check your earnings! You may not reach hundreds of dollars a day for a year or two…but that’s not an impossible writing or blogging goal.
What did I miss about making money blogging for writers? Is putting ads on your blog as a writer a sell-out? Is your blog ad-free…and you’d have it no other way? I welcome your thoughts below.
Want to make your blog "sticky", so visitors stay longer? Try this beta "Click and Stick" program -- it's free!
But before you can entice visitors to stick to your blog, you need to learn a bit of search engine optimization. Scribe SEO offers information for web writers, bloggers, and affiliate marketers.
And, to find more freelance writing and editing jobs, consider joining GoFreelance.
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Susan | May 18, 2009 | Reply
Another way to earn money from blogging is to sell reprints of your blog posts. Obviously, since your posts are already online, some places don’t want them. But there are newsletters and other small markets that need a steady supply of quality writing-related content and don’t mind if it’s repurposed or reprinted. It’s not high-paying, but it’s very little extra work (and can help drive traffic to your website/blog), so I think it’s worthwhile.
Susan’s last blog post..Are You Earning What You’re Worth?
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen | May 18, 2009 | Reply
Thanks – selling reprints of your blog posts is a great idea, Susan! How do you find those newsletters and small markets?
Also, when I wrote this post I forgot to mention that you don’t need to go through official affiliate programs to be an affiliate for some organizations. I found a marriage counselor who has a wonderfully professional affiliate program, and am giving him a try (on my other Quips and Tips blogs – not this one!).
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen’s last blog post..Tips for Borrowing Money to Invest
Terrie | May 18, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for the great info. I’m going to spend more time on your site as I am a writer just breaking into the freelance world. Worked as a journalist for six years. Thanks again.
Laurie PK | May 18, 2009 | Reply
Welcome to Quips and Tips for Freelance Writers, Terrie! I’m sure your journalism experience will ease your way into the freelance world.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask them here. I’m happy to help a fellow freelancer pay her bills.
Laurie PK’s last blog post..How to Make Money Blogging for Writers
Ruth | May 19, 2009 | Reply
Thank you for a great post. Another solution for making money blogging is Infolinks, a friendly In-Text Advertising provider. Infolinks’ ads don’t take extra space on my site, it
generates additional earnings and they expose my visitors to relevant contextual ads.
seo techniques | May 19, 2009 | Reply
Putting ads on the blog, would be a nice thing as far as the blogging is concern. But I don’t understand why people go crazy over adsense. There are loads of other website (quality websites) which provides ads on the blogs, for example, widgetbucks, infolinks and adbrtie.
Laurie PK | May 19, 2009 | Reply
I tried Kontera for awhile – in-text advertising. But, I didn’t like the double underline links all over my post and I thought it took away from the more valuable forms of advertising.
I haven’t even heard of AdBrite until now — I didn’t like WidgetBucks because it took too long to load for me.
I think people go crazy over Google Adsense because it’s the most popular way to make money for bloggers! Whether it’s the most effective way is a whole ‘nother story…
James | May 26, 2009 | Reply
Hi,
Great post. The other thing I’ve noticed across niches, is that the more technical or web-based the blog (ie my site on freelance writing) versus non-technical niches (I have a college basketball site, collegehoopsvideo.com)..the more blind readers are to ads for whatever reason. Sometimes double or triple the conversion rate for the non-tech stuff. Is this something you see as well, or just a weird case I’ve seen you think?
Cheers, James
James’s last blog post..My Top 3 Favorite Freelance Writing Gigs
Laurie PK | May 26, 2009 | Reply
Man, I have alot to learn about blogging!
I haven’t seen different conversion rates because I’m not tracking what I earn from each of my blogs (unless it’s obvious because it’s the only advertiser on that particular blog). I know how valuable it could be, but I just can’t seem to find the time.
Interesting phenomenon, though – that the tech readers don’t click ads as much. Maybe it’s because there’s so much info available for free and tech people know it. And, they know that the ads don’t always lead to good, solid, free info.
Whereas maybe the non-tech readers aren’t as aware of the click-through and affiliate marketing techniques, so happily click away….
Come to think of it, I know that this writing blog doesn’t net the same as my Achieving Your Goals blog. Well there you go — YES, James, I have noticed the same thing! I just had to write it out to fiture it out.
Thanks for your comment, James, and for helping me see my blogs in a different light.
Laurie
Laurie PK’s last blog post..Tips for Submitting Multiple Query Letters to Magazines
Buddy | Aug 5, 2009 | Reply
I believe that the best way of making money online is still monetizing your blog with Adsense or Adbrite. My income from blogging is still low but i am working hard to get more readers.
Fred | Aug 17, 2009 | Reply
How long does it take a blog to get popular? I’m thinking about starting one, but want to know when I’ll get readers. Does it take a few weeks?
Laurie PK | Aug 18, 2009 | Reply
Good question, Fred!
It depends on what you mean by “popular.” I think you first have to define that (eg, 250 new visitors per day? 25,000 pageviews per day? 10 new comments a day? $45 from Google Adsense every day?). Then, you’ll have a better idea of what popular means to you.
Then, I suggest you be patient and dedicated. It can take years for a blog to become firmly established in people’s hearts, minds, and Google Readers…and in the spider networks that crawl the blogs.
If you want to make money blogging, you need to practice with different affiliate programs — not just Adsense. And, you need to track what’s been effective….and be prepared to keep trying!
Since making your blog popular takes a long time, it’s crucial that you enjoy blogging. If you’re just starting a blog, make sure you pick a topic and theme that you won’t tire of quickly!
I hope this helps, and invite you back anytime if you have more questions.
Laurie
Laurie PK´s last blog post ..7 Tips for Writing for Trade Magazines
Muffpseuddy | Aug 24, 2009 | Reply
Do you think Twitter Marketing can get me more traffic?
Laurie PK | Aug 25, 2009 | Reply
Hi Muffpseuddy,
Yes, I think Twitter can increase the traffic to your blog, which can in turn increase the amount of money you make blogging!
It depends on how you use Twitter, though. I suggest trying different things, and NOT spamming people on Twitter. Read articles about using Twitter effectively — and don’t just focus on promoting your blog. There are tons of tips for using Twitter out there; you just need to do a little research.
I did write an article about Twitter for writers; here’s the link:
Twitter Benefits for Freelance Writers
Good luck!
Laurie
Laurie PK´s last blog post ..10 Tips for Interviewing Sources for Articles
Brad | Aug 27, 2009 | Reply
It takes a long time to make money blogging. I think Problogger Darren Rowse started earning six figures after six years of hard work blogging.
There’s no “get rich quick” scheme in blogging, that’s for sure.
Amelia | Sep 1, 2009 | Reply
Problogger says that all the time, that it took him years to become successful and make money as a blogger. It’s like a full-time job. Who has time to work on your blog all day long?
Christine Morehouse | Jan 19, 2010 | Reply
Hi,
I stumbled across this amazing informative site by looking up how to start a writers group. I noticed this post right off the bat.
I edit operate and own three review sites:
Over
the Edge
Romantic Crush Junkies
Erotic Romantic Crush Junkies
Lately people have been asking me how much do I charge for space. I stumped in what to tell them. When i started this last year I gave myself up to a year to get my name out there and then turn it into a profitable business.
My blogs are all affiliated but I haven’t seen any money. Also, I have authors, publishers and agents asking me how much I charge for services.
An input would be grateful.
All the best,
Christine
Christine Morehouse´s last blog post ..Giveaway & Interview with "The Black Tie Affair" Romance Author, Sherrill Bodine