So you’ve created your blog and begun to promote it among media, friends, family and other bloggers. People are starting to visit your blog, and now is the time to set your blog up to make you a few (or much more than a few!) dollars if that’s what you choose to do.
There are several ways to make money from your blog. Ad networks and affiliate programs are the primary resources you’ll want to explore, though I will caution you that ads on your blog can backfire if you do not choose wisely. Place ads on your site that are relevant to your content. You will turn off readers when you begin to promote ads and products that are not in sync with the interests of your reader base.
Ad Networks
Ad networks provide ads and content that are refreshed throughout the month and tend to pay bloggers (aka “publishers”) on a page view basis. With these types of ads you make money per 1000 pages that are viewed on your site. These ads are good to have because the more popular your blog becomes, the more money you can make, and you are not reliant on readers clicking on ads or signing up for services. A few of the ad networks are:
The ad networks do not always have space but are on the hunt for new bloggers to add to their networks throughout the year.
Affiliate Marketers (Per Sign-Up)
There are several affiliate marketers available to you with campaigns that you can run on your blog. With this group of marketers, bloggers make a set amount of money per offer sign-up. The payout can range from a few cents to $5 to $10 or more per sign-up. Them more readers you get, the more money this can become. Here are a few affiliates to check out. In parentheses are some of the advertisers that run campaigns with these marketers:
Adperio (CoolSavings)
Escalate Media (A Full Cup, Coupons.com)
Logical Media (Coupons.com, Bally Total Fitness)
MySavings Media (Pampers, BabyCenter.com)
Panthera Network (Kraft, Swagbucks)
Affiliate Marketers (Commission-Based)
There are also affiliate marketers that offer publishers a commission per sale. Lots of major companies have affiliate programs through these marketers, including Upromise, Walmart, Snapfish, Overstock.com and Shutterfly. In some cases you’ll earn a few dollars per sign-up, but in most cases you’ll earn a percentage of sales that came through your links.
Commission Junction (Upromise, Snapfish)
Google Affiliate Network (Kmart, Target)
LinkShare (Walmart, Taste of Home)
Pepperjam Network (Vistaprint, Jelly Belly)
Share-A-Sale (Tiny Prints, Best Deal Magazines)
Search-Based Ads
Finally, there are search-based ads, which are ads that appear when web users search for a subject through Google or Bing and find your site. When they arrive, they’ll find text-based ads relevant to their search.
Google AdSense ads appear on your blog anytime you arrive at your site, and can also placed in your RSS feeds. Chitika ads on the other hand can only be seen by those who land on your site by way of an Internet search, and can be combined with Google AdSense ads for maximum effectiveness.
Got a question about monetizing your blog? Feel free to drop me a note through my Contact page.