Archive for the ‘Online Cash Sources’ Category

Should Bloggers Still Get Into Affiliate Marketing?

Saturday, March 21st, 2009

By now, you know there are several ways for bloggers to earn online, and the easiest way is by writing about a certain topic and inviting advertisers to post ads on your blog via text link ads. These advertisers pay in advance for the website spot so the money is in the bank for you whether or not the advertiser sells something to your blog’s visitors.

Another easy way, and many have earned a decent amount from this, is joining various banner exchange programs that allow you to cash out (project wonderful and CMF, to name a few).

Some bloggers also earn a lot beingĀ  a member of sponsored review networks like sponsored reviews and review me.

So how is affiliate marketing more difficult than the above blog earning options? One reason I can think off is this: you have to convince your blog visitors to buy through your affiliate link. For some reason, some individuals dislike buying from someone else, particularly from a stranger. I don’t know where this resistance comes from, but I’ve met a few who bluntly say “why should this guy earn from my purchase”.

If you give them reason enough, though, you will most definitely make a good sale. This means you have to show them how they can use the product, what to expect and what to watch out for.’

Some of the affiliate networks I use: Share-a-Sale and PepperJam

Bloggers are great reviewers, in my opinion, because they can talk about almost anything related to their niche. If you have a following (people read your blog, visit you often, trust you and subscribe to you), you have a better shot at earning through affiliate marketing than a blogger who doesn’t have a following.

Earn Online: Is Blogging Enough?

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

If you’ve been online for a while and you know a few other things besides blogging that could get you some serious cash over the internet, will you still do this blogging thing?

What other things, you ask?

1. Ebay – simple, can be done by anyone brave enough to put their products out there for some serious trading. A tip to those Filipinos who do this is to sell really rare books about presidents, particularly coffee table books about the “controversial” presidents (wink).

2. Game character selling – I played a massively multiplayer role playing game for a few years and I know how difficult it is to manually get your character to a certain level. Some of my friends do this and earn a lot from WoW characters.

3. Content Writing – Simply put, writing for others. Using your writing skills to help other people increase their sales, update their sites and etc.

The answer to the top question is YES, you could still blog even if you engage on these other money online activities. Blogging does not take up too much time when you get the hang of it, and more importantly, it’s an almost passive cash source once your blog is established and you are down to your routine weekly updates.

What is Your Icing, What is Your Cake?

Sometimes blogging pays a lot and for the moment it is the cake that feeds you. Sometimes it doesn’t, and it becomes the icing, and the other sources of income becomes your cake. Either way, blogging becomes your hobby. It’s where you put your personality out here in the web. To earn money from a hobby is wonderful right?

think about it and remember to have fun!

The Niche: What is Your Blog About?

Wednesday, August 20th, 2008

First of all, what is a niche? There are various ways to define this term in the context of marketing and science, and because I am primarily a disciple of the latter, this is the definition I will refer to:

niche n. the particular area within a habitat occupied by an organism.

If the internet world were the ocean, you (the organism) will belong to a particular location in it, usually with a group that shares the same living area and activities. That’s your niche.

Niches in Blogging

When I first started blogging, I belonged to the niche of “Anything Under the Sun”, which isn’t really a niche at all.

Then, I realized that there are programs and blogger communities that require me to put in a blog description. I detested having to write ‘a blog about anything under the sun’ so I came up with ways to delineate which specific niche my blog belonged to.

Guide on How to Find a Niche for Your Blog

1. You start out by pretending that you are being asked to describe your blog in one sentence. Initially you start with the simplest statement:

“This is the blog of (a) who (b) .”

Where:
a = something about you. It could be your profession, a description of yourself, your dream profession.

Anything that will instantly tell the different money networks or blog visitors what’s unique about your website….
e.g. an overseas worker, an immigrant, a stressed employee, a Filipino, an aspiring musician, a successful business woman, a frustrated computer programmer etc.

b = likes and dislikes, favorite activity, dreams and aspirations, current situations, present locations, etc.

e.g. likes cars, likes to sing, wants to try again, loves to crochet, loves biking, lives in another country etc.

2. Your one-sentence blog description will give you an idea on what your niche is.

Basically, this means that the people most likely to visit and follow your posts are those who share the same interests or are intrigued by people like you. These are your “niche-mates”. They can be bloggers themselves or ordinary internet passers by looking to buy/sell something or simply read something about your topics.

3. Moneytize (earn money from) your niched blog by seeking out advertisers who belong to your niche.

These are merchants who have products that could interest you or people like you. Remember that your readers or regular blog visitors will always be the people who can relate with what you talk about frequently.

All you have to do is find advertisers who want to sell to these people and apply as an affiliate.

Where to find advertisers to promote

- Share-A-Sale

- Commission Junction

- NeverBlueAds

- Clickbank