Blog Monetisation Strategies

I’ve been looking lately at the best ways to monetise your blogs. Blogging is a great business tool where you can gain a significant following and readership – the hard part is always earning money from your blog. When blogging first start people thought you just create a blog, get readers and slap on some ads to make money – a lot has changed and this method doesn’t always work.

So today I am going to touch on some of the most popular ways to monetise your blog.

1. Sell Ads / Banner Advertising

Selling ads or banners is obviously one of the most popular ways bloggers make money. Google Adsense is very popular and I use it on this blog. However don’t expect to get rich overnight with this sort of advertising unless you have HUGE traffic.

Over the past year I have diversified my ad sales by using another banner sale website, BuySellAds.com. I’ve found it a great way to earn some extra money – you can view my profile on BuySellAds here: http://buysellads.com/buy/detail/59698/

2. Creating your own Products

If you are recognised as a leader in your niche, then you may be able to create your own products – such as ebooks and sell them on your website. This is a good way to make money as usually costs are low and you will keep all the profit. You then may be able to create a new ebook every quarter to keep a consistent level of sales. Many large blogs around the world do this and can make big money.

3. Affiliate Sales

Some bloggers decide to sign-up with Affiliate merchants such as Amazon.com or ClixGalore in Australia. This allows you to showcase affiliate products on your website and you are paid a commission every time someone from you site buys a product through your affiliate link. I find this method to be a little more difficult to make money but many bloggers have had good success with this.

4. Sponsored Posts/ Articles

Some bloggers like to offer sponsored articles to advertisers. Basically an advertiser will pay the blog owner to post a specific article. This can be a profitable way to earn money in blogging but it’s not something you can really do every day. Also you need to disclose to your readership that the post has been endorsed/ sponsored by an advertiser.

5. Public Speaking

If you are considered an expert in your field you may get opportunities to be a speaker at events. This is a good way to make money and further increase your industry reputation. This is one of the main ways I make money from this blog.

6. Consulting

Again, if you are an authority and information source in your industry you may be able to sell your expertise and time to people whom want consulting. This is a nice way to earn a consistent income and one of the main ways this blog also makes money.

7. Social Media Promotion

Not directly earning money from your blog, but you may use your social media accounts to post sponsored messages etc. Again check my BSA profile for this: http://buysellads.com/buy/detail/59698/

8. Email Marketing

Many bloggers choose to build up their email list, and then market to this list either with your own products or affiliate products. Some bloggers have had good success with this but you will need a pretty big list to make any decent money off it.

9. Reader Membership

This is being used less and less these days. Some bloggers may decide to provide only so much free content – then to access more you need to buy a membership package. This again could work if you have a large reader base as only a small percentage may convert and become a paid member. Also if you discuss a very technical topic then you may have more of a chance to entice memberships.

10. Sell your Blog

The term ‘website flipping’ has become rather popular these days. Some advanced bloggers like to buy small, underutilised blogs – build them up then sell them. There are actually a lot blogs being constantly sold around the world, everyone has their price right?

Conclusion

I think if you are looking to make money from blogging the first thing you need to concentrate on is your audience. Build up your readership to a decent level and you can then look at monetisation strategies. There is no point trying to squeeze out every cent on day1, it will be too hard.