Do you want to make money blogging? If you do - you’re not alone. More and more bloggers are finding that blogging is a profitable medium. Whether it be to earn a few extra dollars a week to feed their coffee habit, or making enough money to stop them having to get a part time job to get through college, or whether they’ve got it to a point where they are able to make a full time living from their blogging - there are tens of thousands of bloggers making money from blogging.
In this page I want to share some information for beginners on making money from their blogs.I will start by sharing my own top Money Making Methods (updated regularly) but below that point you to some great resources and teaching on how to increase your income from blogging .What follows is a quick summary of my main income streams from blogging. Before you read it though - keep in mind that every blog is unique in how it can make money. Some of the following income streams will work on some blogs a lot better than others - the key is to experiment with as many as possible and see what works best for you.The following income streams (from a number of blogs) have helped most people to earn a six figure income each year for the last three years from blogging. I’ve ranked them from highest to lowest.
1. AdSense
I continue to use adsense with amazing effect on my other blogs. I have them all set to show image and text based ads and find that 250 X 300 pixel ads work best (usually with a blended design). I don't have much luck with their "referrals" program but their normal ads work a treat and continue to be the biggest earner for me.
2. Chitika
Chitika continues to be a great performer. They work best on product related blogs although their recent announcement of their Premium ad unit is exciting as they now offer ads with non product focus that I'm hearing great conversion on ( $28 CPM on this ad unit ). Chitika offers a range of ad units. I find their MiniMalls work best and that Related Product Units are also good. I can't recommend them enough!
3. Private Ad Sales / SponsorShips
Private ad sales directly to advertisers have continued to grow over the last few months and as a result they're now become third highest income stream. I expect them to overtake both Chitika and AdSense in the coming months. This includes a campaign or two at Digital Photography School.
4. Amazon Associates
Amazon's affiliate program has been one of big movers. People used to make a few odd dollars from it - however in recent times it has become a significant earner. This quarter it grew even more then previously as a result of continued growth of DPS where people recommend latest books , softwares and technologies (cameras).
5. Miscellaneous Affiliate Programs
7. WidgetBucks
Another newcomer to the list is WidgetBucks- another ad network that Blogger readers will familiar with. WidgetBucks is similar to Chitika and Shopzilla in many respects and works on product related sites. It does best on sites with US traffic so if you have a product related site with US audience it'd be a no brainer to try out WidgetBucks. I'm hoping they'll continue to expand their offerings in terms of ad types and visitor location.
8. Miscellaneous Advertising Programs
I also play with a number of other ad networks. Some run as tests to see if I should review them here and some are just advertising that run in the background on some of my smaller blogs. These include ShoppingAds , Feedburner RSS ads , Vizu ( a poll advertising system ) , Kontera and Bidvertiser. Together these don't add up major earning not because they are not good , but because I don't use them heavily ( a blog can only run so many ads on it ). I think that covers most of it's worth mentioning that last time I did this list , I also included TextLinkAds which used to be every bloggers favorite way to make money blogging by selling text links. I've stopped using them due to Google cracking down on them but its worth nothing that many bloggers still use them successfully. I advise to proceed with caution.
10 Tips for Using Affiliate Programs on your Blog
1. Consider your Audience
It almost goes without saying - but it’s worth putting yourself in your readers shoes and consider what they might be looking for as they surf by your blog. Are they shopping for specific products? Might they be looking for related products or accessories? What would trigger them to purchase? Start with your reader in mind rather than the product. If you take this approach you could end up doing your reader a favor as well as making a few dollars on the side.
2. Genuine Recommendations and personal endorsements always work best
There are literally hundreds of thousands of products and services for you to choose from to recommend to your blog’s readers but making money from them is not as simple as randomly adding links to them from your blog. Your blog’s readers come back to your blog day after day because something about you resonates with them - they have at least some level of trust and respect for you and perhaps the quickest way to destroy this is to recommend that they buy something that you don’t fully believe will benefit them.
The best results I’ve had from affiliate programs are where I give an open and honest appraisal of the product - including both it’s strengths and weaknesses. In a sense I critique it. On a surface level one might think that this wasn’t a wise move and that I should have given a glowing review - however the sales that I’ve had through the program have proven otherwise. People want to know what they are buying first and even if they know a product has limitations they will buy it if it meets their particular need.
3. Link to Quality Products
We all like to make sure we’re buying the best products money can buy - your readers are no different to this and are more likely to make a purchase if you’ve found them the best product for them. Choose products and companies with good reputations and quality sales pages. There is nothing worse than giving a glowing review of a product only to send your reader to a page that looks cheap and nasty.
4. Contextual Deep Links work Best
When I started using the Amazon Associate Program I naively thought that all I had to do was put an Amazon banner ad (that linked to Amazon’s front page) at the top of my blog. I thought that my readers would see it and surf over to Amazon and buy up big - thereby making me a rich man. Nothing could have been further from reality - I was deluding myself.
I always says to bloggers that I’m consulting with that they should learn something from contextual advertising when it comes to affiliate programs. The secret of contextual ads like Adsense is that a reader is reading a post on a particular topic on your blog and when they see an advertisement for that same product they are more likely to click it than if they saw an ad for something else. The same is true for affiliate programs. A banner to a general page on every page on your site won’t be anywhere near as effective as multiple links throughout your blog that advertiser products that are relevant for readers reading particular parts of your blog.
So if you’re writing a blog about MP3 players and have a review for a particular product - the most effectively affiliate program that you could link to from within the content of that page would be one that links directly to a page selling that specific model of MP3 player. This is how I use the Amazon program today. It is more work than contextual advertising because you’re not just putting one piece of code into a template but rather need to place individual links on many pages - but I find that it’s been worth the effort.
5. Consider positioning of links
One of the things I go on and on about with Adsense optimization is the positioning of ads. I tell bloggers to position their ads in the hotspots on pages (like the top of a left hand side bar - or inside content - or at the end of posts above comments etc). The same principles are true for affiliate advertising.
6. Traffic levels are Important
While it’s not the only factor - traffic levels are obviously key when it comes to making money from almost any online activity. The more people that see your well placed, relevant and well designed affiliate links the more likely it is that one of them will make a purchase. So don’t just work on your links - work on building a readership. Not only this, consider how you might direct traffic on your blog toward pages where they are more likely to see your affiliate links.
7. Diversify without Clutter
Don’t put all your affiliate efforts into one basket. There are plenty of products out there to link to so there is no need to just work on one. At the same time you shouldn’t clutter your blog up with too many affiliate program links. If you do so you run the risk of diluting the effectiveness of your links and could disillusion your readership.
8. Be Transparent
Don’t try to fool your readers into clicking links that could make you money. While it may not always feasible to label all affiliate links I think some attempt should be made to let people know what type of link they are clicking on. I also think consistency is important with this so readers of your blog know what to expect.
9. Combine with other Revenue Streams
Affiliate programs and advertising programs are not mutually exclusive things. I’ve come across a few people recently who have said they don’t want to do affiliate linking because it will take the focus off their Adsense ads. While there is potential for one to take the focus off the other - there is also real potential for both to work hand in hand as different readers will respond to different approaches. You should consider the impact that your affiliate links have on other revenue streams - but don’t let one stop the other.
10. Track results
Most affiliate programs have at least some type of tracking or statistics package which will allow you to watch which links are effective. Some of these packages are better than others but most will at least allow you to see what is selling and what isn’t. Watching your results can help you plan future affiliate efforts. Keep track of what positions for links work well, which products sell, what wording around links works well etc and use the information that you collect as you work plan future affiliate strategies.
UPDATE
What tips would you give someone getting into affiliate programs? What has worked well for you? What hasn’t? Share you experience and ideas on affiliate programs.
Thank You
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