Discover the 5 core concepts you need to know in order to become successful in your online business

Blogging for profit?

Believe it or not, there are a LOT of people out there making incredible incomes with simple blogs.

Granted, it’s not a get rich quick scheme by any means but those who stick with it can often start seeing a profit after just a few months.

The niche is everything
It goes without saying that without an interesting, engaging topic your blog will not be very effective. Coming up with a niche or special topic can seem overwhelming when first getting started.

The best method of coming up with a niche is to make a list of your own interests and passions.

Chances are that there are other like minded people out there who share your interest in your chosen subject.

How I started this blog
I’ve been involved in web technology since 1995. Back then, everything was new and exciting with a whole world of opportunities. I chose to become an expert in web design, which became a passion that I truly enjoyed. From there, it expanded into many other areas such as social media, video and more.

My profession grew and expanded and my business became very successful.

I made a HUGE mistake!
With web technology rapidly changing and some things becoming quickly obsolete (remember the 360 virtual real estate tours?), it started to impact my income. Although I was quick to change and adapt technically, I totally missed the opportunities presented by web marketing and self promotion – AKA blogging!

People with minimal web knowledge make more money than the pros
I started to read and notice articles about stay at home mom’s, hobbyists and others who had started very popular blogs with tons of loyal readers. If you don’t know much about blogging then you will need to learn the basics.

Many of these people wouldn’t know HTML from IRS but they were making money…lots of money!

Best of all, the really lucky ones gave up their everyday jobs and made much more from their stay at home income. Meanwhile, I was slaving away trying to sell SEO services to people who didn’t have a clue what it was or why they even needed it.

Things started looking REALLY good over the blog side of the fence…
Instead of selling my expertise, I noticed that people were becoming quite profitable at sharing a knowledge of their expertise.

WHAT…give it away for FREE?

Yup! That’s what the successful folks were doing. Blogging and providing useful information!

So how ARE people making money from their blogs?
From what I have seen, many people are making money from affiliate and PPC (pay per click) sales, advertised on their blogs.

Many are writing reviews with affiliate links to the product they just reviewed.

Amazon works great for this. For the most part, as long as the reviews are authentic, it seems like a fair way to make a few dollars.

After all, if a blogger is doing the work of writing a worthwhile article or review, they rightfully deserve a small commission, right?

AdSense makes sense
Sign up for a Google AdSense account and embed the code into your blog. Google will generate ads that when clicked on, will provide you with a small fee. There are other ad networks and social widgets out there that work in a similar fashion but be careful not to go overboard.

Nobody wants to attempt to read a blog entry loaded with far too many intrusive ads.

Sponsor people and things you use and love
If you’re going to sell something on your blog, why not sign up as an affiliate with a company who produces a product that you enjoy yourself?

There are great companies I have used for years and I’d recommend them even without making money.

How much sweeter it is when you can share something great to make someone else’s life better AND make a few bucks doing so!

Building relationships is crucial…so DO IT!
That is why you are reading this blog, right now.

I am trying to form a relationship with you in hopes that you will join me on my journey and “strategy for profit”.

It’s not all about money but the happiness and satisfaction of doing what you enjoy. I certainly enjoy writing and communicating with you MUCH more than pounding away code in a cubicle.

Get social
You’re going to need visitors and a way to let them know that your blog exists. A great way to do this is via social media.

Hootsuite makes managing and scheduling Facebook posts, Twitter and others very easy.

How to blog and what to write???
You are probably not an expert journalist and you don’t have to be. Take some time and make a list of subjects you want to write about. Take one of the topics and make up a list of things that pertain to the subject.

I’m not an expert typist either so I can’t see much fun in banging away at a keyboard for a couple hours.

TIP: Dictate to voice recognition software such as Dragon Dictate on your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Save to a text file and then edit away. Most people can speak much faster than they can type. It’s also helpful to be prepared with a list of topics for your subject that you can talk about quickly and easily.

Learn from others and let them know
Why reinvent the wheel when it’s already been forged in platinum?

Check out some of the top bloggers on the web and study their methods.

Brian Dean of Backlinko offers a wealth of great methods of getting your blog or website noticed and increasing traffic. Pat Flynn’s Smart Passive Income blog also has tons of information. There is a LOT of information out there (and quite a bit of “snake oil” too), so study what you can and take notes.

Remember, the more unique and useful your blog is, the more successful and profitable it will be!

A quick note about the reviews and tool links on this site: I am an affiliate for most every product I review or link to. I purchase these products and test them myself in order to create quality reviews. All my reviews are completed as honestly as possible. I make no promises to the vendor prior to writing my review as to the content of the review. Should you click a link on this site that takes you to a paid product, this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to purchase that product.