How to blog for money

With the emergence of blogs as a creditable source of information and entertainment, the timing is perfect for anyone to jump in the market and begin making money with blogging. There are several different formats you can use to accomplish this, but the most important thing to remember is to map out your strategy before typing a single word. Here are some guidelines for learning how to blog for money.

Have an Angle

There are a couple of different ways to approach your blog, and each one depends on your experience and goals. An expert blog is one where the writer has insights and experiences from a particular topic or industry. They give their reader value by exposing things that a novice on the topic may not know.

A commercial blog still focuses on one subject, but instead of pretending to know everything about the subject; it simply recommends products and information related to it. The blogger then receives commissions when the reader purchases a product through the blog’s affiliate links. In comparing the two formats, an expert blog is more likely to build instant traffic, but a commercial blog is typically more profitable when done in good taste.

Build Trust

No matter what angle you choose for your blog it is important to build trust with your readers if you want them to purchase products through your affiliate links. While this is relatively easy with an expert blog that provides inside information, a commercial blog will require more work. The fastest way to build trust in this scenario is to offer useful content. This can be done posting helpful articles and honest reviews of related products. Always look back on your blog posts and ask yourself if they provide value to the reader. This is the easiest way to tell if you will attract or repel your visitors.

Recommend

The most effective way to make money blogging is to through the use of product recommendations. This is typically done by reviewing a particular product within a blog post and including an affiliate link to the item. Again, the trust level of the reader is essential for success. By providing accurate details about the product, as well as an unbiased opinion, you can increase the probability that they will make a purchase through your link. Of course a little salesmanship can increase your odds, but be careful not to go overboard and turn the reader off. Be creative and compelling without ruining the trust level you have nurtured.

Learning how to blog for money involves a balanced approach of strategy and marketing ability. Beginners should realize that the entire process will require constant learning and experimentation. Start by mapping out a strategy for your blog. Think about what you will offer your readers and how you will monetize your efforts. From there it is a matter of determining which marketing efforts work most effectively with the reader base. This is best accomplished by trying out multiple techniques and measuring the results. The good news is that once you have discovered a profitable format, you can reproduce the efforts across multiple blogs. This is where the largest profits will be realized.