Successfully Blogging for Profits

It’s 2015 and by now you must know that there is a significant power in blogging, but why? How do people make money blogging? In this article on Successfully Blogging for Profits, we’ll walk through:

The purpose of blogging
How to monetize a blog
How to target your ideal market through keyword optimized content
How to develop an online course you can promote through your blog

The internet gives you the capability and the platform to share your knowledge – to teach others what you have learned. It can be anything that you are accomplished at. Are you a singer? Teach basic principles of voice control. Are you great at resume writing – teach it. Are you a world traveler – give your best travel or packing tips. Basically, if you know it, teach it through a blog. I have a friend who spent several years traveling the globe with her work. After breaking several suitcases and cleaning clothes saturated with leaking hair gel, she became very adept at strategic packing. She learned how to pack lightly even for cold weather and fold so she never had to iron. She now writes a blog on travel and shares her knowledge on everything travel related from appropriate tip amounts in various cities, to natural cures for travelers stomach to, you guessed it – packing. Her site contains travel products she recommends and she gets paid a commission on the sales of those products. She has capitalized on the power of blogging and is now successfully blogging for profits.

Successfully Blogging for Profits – how to monetize your blog

But what if you don’t like to write? Not a problem – you can have an audio or video blog. The idea is to simply share your knowledge with others who have a desire to learn what you know. As the example above shows, sharing your knowledge can be profitable. There are a few ways in which to monetize your blog.

1.) Prospecting

– A blog is your online vehicle to attract potential clients.

2.) Affiliate sales

– You can promote affiliate products or services through your blog.

3.) Ad sales

– A high-ranking blog can be appealing to advertisers.

Prospecting – Your blog can help position you as an authority in your field. It should be an integral part of your marketing plan. Your blog is a great way to engage with your target market and build a list of followers. If you have a service based business or you have created a course you can then market to your list followers.

Affiliate Programs – Almost every company offers an affiliate program these days. When the economy went south several years ago, companies had to find a way to market their products on a very slim budget, many turned to affiliate relationships. An affiliate program simply means that you get a commission on any sales that come through your referral. Information on affiliate programs and how to use them is detailed in this article.

Ad Sales – Blogs that have received a high ranking in the search engines and have a strong following are considered authority sites and can attract advertiser dollars. It will take some time to build your blog to this point, but it is well worth it. Once you have a strong online presence you can easily generate ongoing monthly income by selling advertising space.

Successfully Blogging for Profits – know your market

But before you start setting up a blog and jump right into creating your content there are several items to consider that will make the difference between a successful blog and one that just sits there:

Understand your audience – What are they interested in?
What would motivate them to listen to you?
What action do you want them to take? Remember the way to monetize a blog or any online business is to have a call to action.
Consider using multiple modalities – a mix of audio, video and text. Audio can be as simple as a voice over a course outline, images or PowerPoint slides. Video can be a simple recording of you discussing/teaching a subject. Text is simply the written blog. Take a look at these examples of the three platforms.

In the next section of this series on Successfully Blogging for Profits we’ll walk through the various ways to monetize your blog.

Ready to build a successful blog and online business? Check out our course: The Complete Website in a Box – Cheat Sheet. A simple step by step video course that will have your site up and running in one day.

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