Rauru.com

Posted on August, 27 2008, under Blogging, Marketing by Ikki | 7 comment(s)

Hi peeps,

I’m quite sure you’ve found thousands of articles, blog posts and/or threads starting with a title similar to “Want to make money with your blog?” or more commonly “How to Make Money with your blog”. So have I and to be perfectly honest I believe that all these are bullshit just a bunch of useless info.

The truth is, no one can really tell you how to make money. What works for me may not do it for you. It’s that simple. Life is like that. However, some people are so desperate to earn an income that they would do whatever it takes to get some bucks - smart marketeers know about this fact and often take advantage of it for their own benefit. They tell you what you want to hear and make a lot of money… from you.

Making Money with Your Blog

First thing you must ask yourself is “Am I blogging for money?”. If you are, I’ve got bad news for you buddy: you got it all wrong. A wrong mindset can -and more likely, it will- stop you from getting any income from the Internet. You could end up being just another source of incomes for a happy marketeer.

Earning incomes should not be your main goal in any aspect of your life - so get your mind right, man!, and start looking at things from a different angle. Do you want to know why some people are truly succeeding in what they do while some of us are not? It’s not because they’re constantly coming up with new stuff -with some exceptions, of course- but they’re constantly innovating.

Innovating doesn’t necessarily mean to create new stuff (invention) but also means to do what everybody is doing but from a different perspective. It’s this what highlight them from the rest. Take Darren Rowse -or the infamous John Chow- for example. What makes them so popular? As unbelievable as this might sound -and I’m sure that some people will debate this- it’s not just because they are Internet Marketing gurus but also because they have learned how to make their blogs attractive enough for the average blogger, like you and me. They tell us what we want to hear.

So, how can I make money with my blog? It’s a simple question, hard to answer. I will tell you what you need to hear, not what you want to hear: hard work and commitment. There are no shortcuts to fame & money. Some people will try to show you “easy” ways to earn incomes but the truth is that most of these strategies lead to short-term income sources, require a lot of hard work and you’ll end up getting the smallest slice possible of the cake. Avoid shortcuts - you must learn how to crawl before start walking, and how to walk before start running.

Start Making Money with your Blog Today

Of course, there must be a starting point, some place where to set up your goals in order to improve your blogging and attract the masses. Here are a few tips you should keep in mind while blogging:

1. Enjoy the experience of blogging. Have fun while you’re writing for your readers -as I am now- and interact with them as much as you can. Take off of your mind the idea of blogging for money - blog because you want to blog. Once you have stablished a solid relationship with your visitors, money will chase you in the form of advertisers, sponsors, donations, and business oportunities.
2. Sharp your senses. Detect your readers’ needs while you interact with them. Learn what they want and provide it. Give them what they want.
3. Know yourself. I know this guy who was determined on blogging about this niche he knew nothing about. I remember I told him something like “why don’t you pick a different niche?” and he replied “I don’t care. I have already started this blog and I’ll go on no matter what”. A few weeks later, he sold his new blog. Blog about something you like. It’ll make your blogging experience easier and enjoyable. If you’re determined to explore a new niche or blog about something you know nothing about, then make sure you take some time to learn about it and share your experiences with your readers.
4. Don’t join Advertisement programs as Adsense unless your blog is an stablished one and you’re getting a decent amount of traffic. Instead, go for private advertising. Sell ads spots and reviews to individuals. It’ll earn you more incomes than if you joined a advertisement program.
5. Become a Sponsor. Sponsoring can serve as a powerful way to expose your services / sites to the blogging community, which may uncover new business oportunities for you in the future. It can also help you build up your readership by attracting new visitors to your place.
6. Use your blog as a sales platform to offer your services. If you’re good at SEO -for example- you might want to add a Sales Page offering SEO services. Remember to include some examples of your previous work. I’m planning to do this myself in the future since I’m good a coding websites and might use some extra money
7. Again, Don’t blog for money. Your goals should be focused on getting more traffic and readers. Also, you should focus on providing quality stuff for your visitors. Strengthen your blog. Once you start getting a decent amount of visitors per day, advertisers will beg you to put their ads on your site. So there’s no need to rush. Relax and enjoy your blogging experience.

Finding your own path to success isn’t easy. You’ll make mistakes and fall down, but also learn from them and get up again stronger than you were before. Consistency, Innovation and Patience - these are the virtues you need to develop to stand out from the crowd.

Do you want to make some marketeer happy or you are ready to start walking on your own?