The ABC's of Starting and Monetizing a Blog

An blog is a platform that seems to have really evolved over the years. Whether you have started a blog as an online diary to write about a hobby or yourself, or as a marketing tool to build your online presence, it makes good sense to monetize it. This article will explore some ways that you can monetize a blog. There are 3 basic things that are necessary to have in place before you can start making money with a blog: 1. Content must be updated on a regular basis
2. Your Blog needs to be promoted in order to get traffic
3. Your Blog should be submitted to search engines so that it can get found on the Web
How to get started There are so many ways to start. Beginners can start with a free blogging platform like Blogger.com via Google or Wordpress.com. Free blogs usually have an extension in the name like yourblogname.blogspot.com. However, if you want ownership, more options and flexibility, then you can buy a domain name, get it hosted and use the same blogging platform for your blog. Less is more, kind of! Let me clarify. The less general your blog theme or topic is, the better. In other words, niche down as much as possible. The more focused and niche based your blog is, the better off for loyal readers, for search engines, for monetizing options. Show me the money You can monetize your blog with any of the following four programs: Google Adsenser Affiliate Marketingr Ebook Marketingr Direct Advertising Google Adsense This is where you place Google Adsense Ads on your blog. You get a commission when someone clicks on the Ads on your website. Affiliate Marketing With affiliate marketing, you can also place ads on your blog, for products related to your niche. You can also write product reviews or recommendations for products in your niche. To get started, sign up to be an affiliate for a product and place the affiliate link on your blog in a banner or in a product review. Ebook Marketing An ebook is a downloadable electronic book, usually in a PDF format that you can write yourself and offer for sale to your readers. Your Ebook can be on a variety of subjects. I think its best to write on a topic that solves a problem for people. Direct Advertising Once you start to get decent traffic and a good amount of readers, you can offer advertising space on your blog.Your target advertisers are people with products or services in your niche that might benefit your readers. Blogs are fun, bottom line. Its also a great marketing tool to build your brand, build a relationship with your customers and also to build income.