Starting a successful blog can offer many new opportunities, including the opportunity to make money. Most blogs do not make money right away but as a blog becomes more popular and builds a reader base, monetizing is the next step.
Advertising Revenue Model
Advertising is the most common revenue model for blogs. Among bloggers who sell advertisements, "the mean annual revenue is $6,000 with $75K+ in revenue for those with 100,000 or more unique visitors per month," according to a Technorati report, State of the Blogosphere 2008.
The amount of revenue generated through advertisements is directly correlated to how much traffic the blog gets. The saying, "you have to spend money to make money," applies to blogging. The best way to increase traffic is by investing in marketing the blog. Technorati reports that bloggers who sell advertisements invest an average of $1,800 annually in their blogs.
Affiliate Product Marketing
Affiliate marketing is another way bloggers make money blogging. The blogger places an advertisement or link on their blog for an affiliate product or service and makes a commission on sales generated through the link.
There are affiliate marketing networks that make it easy to sell affiliate products. CJ.com is one of the most popular networks connecting bloggers and website owners to advertisers. There are thousands of products affiliate marketers can choose from. It is important to advertise a credible product that readers will be interested in.
Bloggers should always try a product or service before promoting it as an affiliate. Readers trust the blogs they read and the people who write them. A negative experience with a product promoted on a blog can break that trusting relationship.
The Business of Blogging
Businesses can use a blog to build brand awareness and sell its products or services. Bill Marriott, CEO of Marriott Hotels, has generated over $5 million in sales through his blog according to an article in The Washington Post. This demonstrates how important the blogging medium is to businesses today.
If the blogger does not yet have a business to promote, there are services to offer through the blog such as paid product reviews. Some blogs with large communities have a job board that sells job listings to companies. This adds another revenue stream to a blog business model.
While there are many ways to make money blogging, a blog should never become one big sales pitch. Bloggers must always maintain trust and credibility with their readers.
Monetizing a blog is a process that requires planning and market research. A blog is a business and the bloggers who recognize this are the ones who will succeed at making money blogging.
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