Tips on How to Start Monetizing Your Blog - guest post

by Grace Boyle

Are you new to blogging? Have you been passionately blogging, providing content and engaging your readers for "free?"

It is likely that your blog is in addition to your full-time job, to spending time with your family and friends, or with pets and even attending social events. But, you might be among the many bloggers who want to take that next step - of making their blog a part of their business, or start blogging more full-time than part-time.

This is a dilemma many bloggers and online publishers face. So, how do you make money and not intimidate your readers with aggressive advertising and monetization sponsorships?

Prominent online publisher, Inside CRM, declares that "ads are generally the bread and butter of bloggers...to keep a happy balance, focus on relevance and make sure that you're not overloading your blog with too many ads." Focusing on advertising to monetize your blog will be the focus of this post, but we also recommend considering these additional monetization options.

Monetization Options for Bloggers:

• Affiliate: There are a large number of affiliate programs out there, whether it's software, products, or eBooks. This doesn't have to be intrusive in the form of front page advertising. Amazon has a great affiliate program that allows you to feature the books you actually read and that you think your blog readers would like. The key to affiliates is to promote and be and affiliate to products that YOU actually use.
• Sponsored posts: Various brands may offer a sponsored post for you to talk about their products or services, when relevant to your blog. Try ReviewMe or SponsoredReviews for more information and next steps.
• Guest Blogging, Speaking, Consulting or Interviews: These are opportunities that come to you when you have established your expertise on your blog or you are a destination blog for your topic/niche. You can expand on your focus and charge for these opportunities.


==> Guest blogging on other pet blogs and sites may be free, but it gives you new    readers and traffic

==> Speaking gives you exposure and may be paid (or grow into a paid service you provide)

==> The same goes for consulting (whether you're a vet blogger and want to help others do the same or whether you're creating a business on being a pet blogger consultant).

==> Interviews are not usually paid for, but they can lead to paid gigs.

• Advertising: As the article at Inside CRM (linked in this post) declares, display and text advertising are prominent and easy sources of revenue. You can work with an ad network or sell directly to brands that may be interested in your blog.

Lijit falls into the first of the advertising provider or network area. We provide free, front page display (CPM-cost-per-thousand) advertising as well as text based search ads (CPC- cost-per-click) advertising. Anyone can join Lijit's advertising services. There is no pageview limit and the ads are contextually relevant to your site. This is great for new bloggers because we do not verify you solely based on your pageviews or hold it against you because you're new to the game.

Our CEO, Todd Vernon, says, "Our purpose in the grand scheme of things is to use technology and ral people who care to find out interesting information about audiences in the mid and long tail. We recognize that publishers work hard to create great content that attracts great audiences. We want to help our publishers publish better content and have access to real Ad Agencies with real objectives, campaigns and money to spend."

At BlogPaws West, Lijit will be presenting a breakout session to discuss a piece of the monetization options for bloggers - especially how to help bloggers profit from ad services that align to their goals through automatic payments month and speedy support. Our network offers premium brands that want to reach your audience and multiple ad "streams" to fill as much of your inventory as you want to use.

BIO: Grace Boyle is the Publisher Services Manager at Lijit in Boulder, Colorado. She helps recruit and acquire strategic publishers to Lijit's growing network and serves as an account manager for existing publishers. Like the rest of the team, she blogs and be found on Twitter. She loves blogging, laughter, the mountains, snowboarding, horseback riding, travel and wine. She misses her Siberian husky, Dakota.

  

Comments

[Christina]

This is a great post. I am taking this advice.

[Grace Boyle]

@Christina Glad to hear you enjoyed the advice and thanks for the feedback! If you're going to be at BlogPaws, we're looking forward to meeting you.

[Robin Zygelman]

I wanted to let you know about our affiliate network RevenueCurve.com. We specialize in the Pet niche and have several excellent pet offers with strong payouts per sale.

You can sign-up as a new affiliate here: http://affiliates.revenuecurve.com/signup

Thank you for your time,

Robin