With a bigger focus on fresh, new ideas online, many people are deciding to enter the internet arena as writers, or bloggers, in order to generate income by publishing their well-opinionated voice through a series of posts and self-written articles.
A few years ago, making money off blogging was unheard of. Blogs were simply threads of trivial information floating in cyberspace. Not until bloggers learned how to package their work and brand themselves did blogs become a popular, viable source of information.
Over the years, popular bloggers (vloggers too) have been able to generate a substantial income pipeline by attracting readers (viewers) through relevant content and landing endorsement deals and advertising opportunities.
If you’re a blogger, and have yet to generate a stream of income, you may be asking yourself what exactly needs to be done to make your blog a monetary success. Here are a few easy and creative ways you can begin hyping up your blog, building your personal brand and increasing viewership in order to generate some green.
Be Niche
If you have a blog, understand that you can’t be sporadic with your content. For example, covering everything from sports, movies and product reviews. Good blogs attract niche, or specific, audiences. If you’re going to write about sports, make sure it’s all about sports. However, even sports can be too general! An article on AskMen.com advises bloggers to be hyper-focused when picking out subjects for your blog. So instead of focusing on all sports, why not focus on sports in East Coast? Or college sports? Or even just hockey? Just remember, the secret to finding an audience and building viewership centers around finding your niche.
Be Relevant
Once you decide on a focus, remember to live and breathe this particular subject. If you have a movie blog, watch as many films as you can. Stay current with new releases. Know your stuff! This is why, it’s highly suggested for bloggers to choose a focus in which they’re experts. Also, remember not to clutter your pages with too much written content. Rich Gorman, professional marketer, suggests that the best web pages have an equal balance of content and space.
Sell Ad Space
One of the major forms of revenue for bloggers comes through ad space. Once you’ve found your niche, appealed to your audience and generating a decent following, you can begin auctioning space. Most bloggers usually use Google’s AdSense because of its simplicity. Basically, Google acts as a middleman between advertisers and bloggers, placing monthly ads without further effort by bloggers. Most of the time, ad prices will go up as viewership increases, making it an excellent way to generate decent revenue. So expect a monthly check from Google!
Branding and Merchandising
Your blog needs to have a solid identity, definitely something visually appealing to your viewers. Depending on the caliber of your content and your relationship with your audience, your viewers will want to promote your brand in their daily lives, especially if you’re trending. Take advantage of this! Sites like Cafepress.com offer bloggers merchandising packages to stamp their brands and logos on everything from t-shirts to bumpers stickers! Don’t be afraid to sell to your viewers!
Making cash from your blog can be quite easy if you know what to do, however, remember that results depend on the caliber of content and creativity and the amount of time you dedicate your blog. If you want quality results, you have to offer quality entertainment.
