Frugal Pinoy

In the first part of the “How to Make Money Blogging” series, I discussed how to become a professional blogger by writing for others.  Also, in the follow-up to that post, I answered questions from readers.

Today, we’ll talk about making money on blogs you own, rather than as a hired writer for other people’s blogs.  This is just a basic outlined tutorial, because making money with your own blog is such a vast topic.  But, if you’re a beginner and you want to set up your own blog and monetize it, this tutorial is a good place as any to start learning.

Tools you’ll need:

• Domain name.  This will be the main address of your blog.  For this blog, it’s frugalpinoy.com.  I usually buy my domain names at GoDaddy.  I think it’s important to buy your own, easy-to-remember domain name, as it looks more professionaland has better recall.
• Web hosting. This is where your website will be stored.  My favorite host is CynicalDog, as I’ve never had problems with them and I’ve been with them for 4 years.  Other reliable hosts you can try: BlueHost, HostGator, WebHostingPad
• A blogging platform.  This is the software behind your blog.  For all of my blogs, I use the WordPress platform, because it is very easy to use and is highly customizable. Other blogging platforms: Moveable Type, Typepad.
• Some website-building knowhow.  Apart from learning how to use your chosen blogging platform, you may need some basic HTML or CSS skills, or at least know someone who is familiar with them.  This will come in handy when you need to paste advertising/affiliate codes on your blog, or when you’re troubleshooting.The internet is full of video and written tutorials on HTML, CSS, and blogging platforms.  All you have to do is search for them via Google.

What about free blogging platforms such as Multiply, Wordpress.com, or LiveJournal?

Oftentimes, hosting with free blogging services has limitations.  You won’t be allowed to sell products, put up ads, or use affiliate links.  Also, most of the time, the formatting and layout of your blog isn’t fully customizable.

It doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to make money from these types of sites.  Blogspot allows you to make money with Google Adsense Ads - but that’s it.  Many Filipinos have also set up online stores via Multiply, even if they’re becoming more strict about it.  In other words, you can make money from these types of sites, but the number of limitations will minimize your opportunities. But you can always use these blogging communities to promote your professional blog.

Your blog’s content:

• Pick a topic.  And stick to it.  All of your blog posts should be related to the topic you choose.  For example, here at Frugal Pinoy, I talk about making and saving money (even if this is a non-profit site).  At Nintendo Nonstop, it’s all about Nintendo news and game reviews. You need one central theme because you want to attract a loyal audience who is interested in that theme.  If you talk about too many topics in one blog - gardening, your family, the stock market, your newest laptop, Pinoy Big Brother - it’s much harder to reach out and hold the interest of your readers.
• Plan your blog posts ahead of time.  I usually know what I’m going to write at least a month ahead of time.  But if you can plan and outline your blog posts for 6 months or more, that would be much better.  Doing this ensures that you never run dry of content, and your readers will come back regularly, knowing that you’re always updating your blog.
• Know your audience.  You have to pick an audience and commit to them.  Is your audience composed of stay at home moms?  Professional twenty-somethings?  Students?  Are they local or international?  You can’t say that your audience is ‘everybody’, you need to be very specific so you will know how to communicate with them and what topics they would be interested in.

Ways to make money:

• Advertising networks.  Ad networks such as Google Adsense and Text Link Ads display relevant advertising on your blog.  You are paid every time someone clicks an ad on your blog.  Setting them up is simple, because all you have to do is paste a bit of code on your website where you want the ads to appear.  Your success with these ads depend a lot on their layout and design. For those of you who are planning to use Adsense, here’s a video on how to optimize your ads.
• Private advertising. Unlike signing up for an ad network, selling private advertising on your blog isn’t automatic.  You will have to look for companies/businesses/websites who want to place their ads on your blog.  You can only do this successfully if you already have at least hundreds of daily visitors to your blog.
• Affiliate networks. I’ve discussed affiliate networks at length on another post, so just click here to learn more about them.
• Sell your own products.  These could be physical products such as shirts or mugs, or digital products such as ebooks, downloadable audio books, or software.  I recommend you start with digital/downloadable products, since they don’t require tricky shipping and handling, and the customer receives them instantly.
• Sell your services.  A blog is a great way to show that you’re an expert at a certain field.  Is it public relations?  Marketing?  Copywriting?  Web design? Use your blog to display your expertise and sell your services as a consultant or contractor.  Here are some tips on how to do it from Problogger.

Some great resources you SHOULD NOT miss out on: (And since I’m kuripot, don’t worry, they’re free)

• Grab John Chow’s free ebook.  You need to sign up for it via his website, the form in the middle.  This guy makes at least $20,000 monthly from his blog alone, so he’s probably doing something right.
• 101 Ways to Monetize Your Blog Without Irritating Your  Readers
• Monetizing WordPress Plug-ins.  These are plug-ins you can add to your blog to help monetize it better.
• Grab Yaro Starak’s free ebook.  Over at his website, using the form on the right, you can download Yaro Starak’s “Blog Profits Blueprint”. In fact, read the contents of his blog, as I learned a lot from him when I was starting out.

Do you own a blog?  Is it something that you monetize?

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 25th, 2008 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Earning and Income. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.