Occasionally, I get questions via email or direct messaging on social networks about how I make money with this blog, or would I continue to blog if I were not making money.
Direct Blogging Income
I can tell you right now, if I were blogging solely for direct income from my blog, then I would have stopped a long time ago. So far, Adsense and a few affiliate programs (top earners being Elegant Themes and the 31 Days to Building a Better Blog Workbook, have supplied my only direct earnings. And the Adsense earnings come from a combination of this blog, and my other sites – DoFollow Resources, Oes Tsetnoc and Mal-Shi.
But to be honest, I haven’t really dedicated myself to monetizing my blogs or other websites. I just recently signed up for Buy Sell Ads. The main reason I was attracted to their service was the way they pull up the stats from Alexa, Compete, Delicious, Yahoo, and others for your site. I know that if I wanted to focus more on that aspect, I could probably do better with my earnings. At the same time, I would like my blog and websites not to be overrun with advertising and focused more on just the content.
Indirect Blogging Income
The indirect income I have made from blogging is what I find the most valuable. The experience I have gained from using WordPress, along with the use of social media marketing and search optimization to promote Kikolani, has led to my ability to offer freelance web design and optimization services to local businesses. I can also add my personal and freelance experience to my resume, so if need be, I can find a good job opportunity in the future.
Future Plans for Revenue Generation
I have a ton of ideas in my head of ways I could be earning more online, and I hope to one day implement them. The one that is forefront in my mind is a social media ebook. I have been thinking about it for a while, and I have become more motivated towards it after reading positive comments from my article on the new version of StumbleUpon. I had been wary to write about the StumbleUpon changes, as there were so many other articles on it, but knowing that it helped clarify things for my readers who still had questions after reading other articles made me feel confident in my ability to explain things in an easier to digest way. Other ideas for online income include creating some niche websites and writing for content publishers like Hubpages, Bukisa, Squidoo and eHow.
How Do You Make Money Blogging?
So now it is your turn. How has blogging helped you make money, both directly and indirectly? Have you had better luck earning income with particular networks or affiliates? Have you had any success with other content publishers like the ones mentioned above, Associated Content, etc.? Any tips you would like to leave for those looking to make money blogging?
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This post brought to you by Kristi Hines
Kristi is a blogger, freelance writer, online marketing consultant, and social media enthusiast. Connect with me on Twitter and Google+.
Kristi has written 453 awesome article(s) for Kikolani.
Kikolani runs on Thesis, but also likes using Genesis. Learn more about Thesis vs. Genesis.
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{ 30 comments }
I make money through affiliate programs only. I am very picky though, and that’s why I don’t use Google Adsense etc – I want complete control over everything on my website
My perspective is that any link or ad on my website has my implicit endorsement, and that’s why I also only promote products that I have personally used and have a review of on my website
I think it likely has led to less earnings so far, but I take my readers’ trust very seriously
.-= Sid Savara´s last blog ..Persistence – Knocked Off His Stride, But Not Off His Feet =-.
I haven’t made any money from blogging yet. Considering the age of my blog, it’s understandable I guess. Though I’m currently planning to offer services via my blog. Hopefully that will help me generate some indirect income.
.-= Karlil´s last blog ..5 Simple Body Language Mistakes To Avoid =-.
I make money by promoting other products that I know (I guess this is affiliate marketing) and by selling my own content through affiliates (I guess you should know something about this
)
I’ve had an online business for more than 10 years and I know what it takes to monetize a site. From display advertising to paid membership. Right now, I chose only those two ways: promoting products that I know is far more honest than an uncontrolled advertising environment and it’s also much more fun to make money by selling your own products.
Good reading and good luck with your SEO book.
.-= Dragos Roua´s last blog ..Rising above the Context =-.
Twitter: FamousBloggers
October 28, 2009 at 2:47 pm
Nice post Kristi, I also have tons of ideas in my head about how to make money online and offline
but the main challenge is time, there is no enough time to do all the required tasks, and probably we a blogger will need more than once source for earnings because each source is limited, and this is what makes it more hard job!
.-= Hesham´s last blog ..What is the best tool for website value calculation, estimations and information? =-.
I don’t really monetize the blog on my main sites as I am selling services on them. I do have other pages that are information and I’ve been able to make about $200/month in adsense revenue from them. This is the only method I have found so far to make money off blogging. I will look into the other ways you are using too. Thanks for the tips.
.-= Chris´s last blog ..Integrate Wordpress Into Existing Site Tutorial =-.
I do paid posts, and Google Adsense. These two networks help pay for my Aweber account. Thanks Greg Ellison
.-= Greg Ellison´s last blog ..Yaro Starak Opened Membership Site Mastermind Yesterday =-.
I just started into online marketing so I’m not receiving yet any rewards from my efforts.
A long time ago I used adsense, and it worked well for me. I gotta say the most intriguing approach to building income long-term might be creating Amazon affiliate links: I can’t say I’m not tempted to do what Darren Rowse describes, because it looks like the pay-off over time is quite substantial:
http://www.problogger.net/archives/2007/05/20/the-secret-to-increasing-amazon-associate-earnings-time/
Best of luck with monetization – you run a wonderful blog and I definitely hope your readers make this worthwhile monetarily.
.-= ashok´s last blog ..Emily Dickinson, “Expectation – is Contentment” (807) =-.
I have not been successful in other form of online money making other than Google Adsense. Maybe because I don’t have that much readers or my efforts are not enough to promote by blog. What you have just written here are very insightful.. thanks!
.-= dimaks´s last blog ..Watch House Season 6 Episode 8 – Ignorance is Bliss =-.
I make money through affiliate programs too (as Sid Savara does). Blogging is the second income for me after offline job.
Twitter: DennisEdell
October 29, 2009 at 7:46 am
As you can see, I just started selling ad space…believe it or not, this is my first attempt at monetization. Once my new changes are in place and I am starting off right once again, money will be 2nd on my priority list
. It wasn’t even on the list up to now…
“I had been wary to write about the StumbleUpon changes, as there were so many other articles on it…”
This is something you needn’t worry about, you always seem to come up unique
.
.-= Dennis Edell´s last blog ..As Promised – An End Of The Year Advertising Special! =-.
Everyone seems to completely forget about email marketing. It’s one of the more effective ways to advertise while keeping banners off your website. If you correctly market your signup box, then you will have no issues getting people to subscribe to it.
.-= Justin´s last blog ..I have a blog, now what? =-.
Like you I have focused on what I do instead of monetization and have recently been researching the best methods to generate online incomes without compromising my principles or advertising what I do not truly believe in.
To that end I recently did a round-up of what I believe are legitimate major money-earning bloggers who teach how to make money blogging. Perhaps there is something among their links that would benefit you and your readers. I’ll use that post in the CommentLuv Link.
I suspect that paid advertising generates the highest income for most bloggers but I have not seen any research to that effect. I would love to have major bloggers lay out roughly the percentage of their income derived from specific sources. That would give us a much clearer idea what the most efficient way to monetize is likely to be.
You may also be interested in my latest post the Best of GrowMap. It collects the posts I feel are most important to growing blogs, small businesses and ecommerce stores.
My blog is also certified dofollow using CommentLuv and KeywordLuv. Commenting there reminds me to share your latest content across Social Networking sites so I hope you and your readers will drop by so I can send you some extra traffic and answer any questions you may have.
.-= Internet Strategist @GrowMap´s last blog ..Top How to Make Money Blogging Resources =-.
Selling ad slots is always an easy income for me. So I would have to say directly.
.-= Deneil Merritt´s last blog ..Flashback Monday – Income Report And Review =-.
yup great post for making money via blogging but i don’t believe more on paid listing i do ethical SEO work and got lead via organic Search!!!
nice post thanks Kristi for sharing…
.-= SEO Company´s last blog ..Zimbra Email Hosting : Integrates Latest Technologies =-.
Currently I haven’t even started my own blog yet, I’m making money with copywritting only. But I’ve been thinking about one for a long time. The problem is I know some stuff about a lot of fields you could write about, but nothing about a certain field that would make me a true expert. What would your advice be to write about in my case?
i got some money via Google add and also some links sale on my bog thanks for great post i book mark it….
I have not made enough money uptil now but i am looking forward to affiliates and technorati media for selling ads, i am also thinking for some content writing
@virtuosoblogger
.-= gautam hans´s last blog ..Browser Toolbars for Blog communities =-.
I made most of my money blogging from doing paid posts, up to $600 a month, but I’ve let that side of it slip away lately as I just don’t have the time. Now most of money earned is from Adsense, a few sponsors and stuff I’ve sold from affiliate links on my blogs.
.-= Sire´s last blog ..Googles Latest PR Update In Time For Halloween =-.
We’ve had a lot of success writing reviews for products…ie. products that we have actually used ourselves. The ones that work especially well are the detailed reviews that go through both the good and bad of the product.
.-= Paula from Affiliate Blog Online´s last blog ..Twitters LIST Feature – Is this the beginning of the end? =-.
I think people generally need to understand that a blog alone is not a business. You have to have a business strategy, just writing posts and hope someone clicks on your adsense is not enough. If you want to have an adsense blog then you need to target high traffic keywords, only a high traffic blog can make a real income from ads alone.
Using your skills to launch your “physical” business online is one of the most valuable types of monetisation.
.-= SEO wizz´s last blog ..Do Blog Directories Help SEO? =-.
Twitter: Mike_hts
November 1, 2009 at 11:24 am
There are a number of different paths to monetization but in the end a large part of success (or lack of success) comes down to the amount of traffic to a blog or a post. The more potential customers (visitors) you have seeing your product offers the more likely you are to make sales.
The level of sales is directly tied to the level and quality of traffic to a blog. While other factors will come into play (blog design, quality of product offers, quality of content, number of ads per page, disposable income level of visitors, etc.) when all these things are equal it is all about the level of traffic.
.-= Mike´s last blog ..Windows 7 – Eight Reasons You Will Want It =-.
I am a multi-skilled person who does make money by doing research and writing under private contracts with non-disclosure clauses (NDC), but I hasten to add that I am not contracted to work for bloggers. Although I am conversant with many different ways to make money online, I do not intend to monetize my blogs at this time.
“If you are an expert in your subject matter, you might be getting paid $50 to $100 an hour for consultation or service fees. To be paid less than that to take the time away from your business to write a blog post has to be offset against the return on that investment of time. If it brings in more business, then a lower blogging fee would be acceptable. If it doesn’t, then your time might be better invested elsewhere …” Lorelle
In July Lorelle published a post in the Blog Herald that you may be interested in reading. Blogging Jobs: How Much Are Bloggers Paid to Blog? http://www.blogherald.com/2008/07/15/blogging-jobs-how-much-are-bloggers-paid-to-blog/
.-= timethief´s last blog ..Google PageRank removed from WebMasters Accounts =-.
I am freelance writer so I provide content for website and bloggers. The rate is satisfactory for the visitors benefit.
The most common ways to make money from blogging is sell advertisement space whether through Google Adsense, banners or affiliate ads. If you provide services blogging is also one of the best ways of educating your propects and positioning yourself as an expert in your field.
.-= Custom Blog Design´s last blog ..Login To Your Blog Admin Panel =-.
I don’t. I just consider it a hobby until I learn what I feel I need to know and experiment. As a non working dependant type person I have the freedom to do that.
.-= Dwippy DoFollow´s last blog ..Blog Comments =-.
Monetising your blog effective can be quite difficult if you do not have the traffic and readership. Adsense is not a very good earner, to make money from them you have to have thousands of page-views a day.
IF you are blogging just to make money, then I think you will fail. Monetising your blog should be an afterthought. That’s my opinion anyway.
Build up your blog, build up your readers, build a community, become an authority, then monetising will make a whole lot of sense
For me, that takes a whole lot of time and a whole lot of effort.
But I think the key for smaller blogs is diversification. Having multiple income streams. A little here and a little there. Added together should make a nice little bonus.
I wrote a nice little article that complements this post well, if you would care to read it. So you want to monetise your blog
.-= Robert Bravery´s last blog ..Web Developers Carnival- December 21, 2009 =-.
Hi Kristi,
I still hold a full time job so time is also a precious commodity for me as a part time blogger. My earnings mainly come from my adsense, affiliate marketing and my blogging services I provide to a well established Internet Marketer. The tip I can share on affiliate marketing is focus on those that give you recurring commission e.g. memberships and services that everyone needs like web-hosting.
I use AdSense, ADSDAQ, Infolinks and Malaysia local ads like Innity and Nuffnang.
.-= Jayce´s last blog ..How to hack Facebook account profile =-.
Twitter: blogstashdotcom
October 9, 2011 at 11:23 pm
Hey Kristy,
Most of my blogging money comes from CPA ads and the second runner up is ad sense. I also make a small amount from selling advertising space.
I would think it really depends on your niche and your audience. What works for me and my blog may not work for you and your blog and vise versa.
Satrap@ Make Money Online recently posted..Ways To Make Money Online
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