What is every blogger’s bottom line? Well, the blogger with some integrity, and a good head on his shoulders is likely to answer this question in a very diplomatic way. When asked about his intentions for running a blog, Diplomatic Dave will probably comfort our souls with his good will, and willingness to share knowledge with others through the written word. On the flip side, however, if you do away with the diplomacy, and ask a blogger what really fuels his drive, the answer will probably have you seeing green. Simply put, in recent years blogging has evolved from being a trendy hobby to being a money-making lifestyle. While many bloggers start their online careers as a pastime, the truth of the matter is, that pastime can easily become a significant form of additional revenue, if done properly. So for the majority of today’s bloggers their online lifestyle has one very clear bottom line, and that is a dollar sign.
Now before I get carried away, allow me to make myself quite clear. I am not painting the blogging community out to be a bunch of money-hungry animals, although there are certainly a few of those in the bunch. In fact, bloggers are a diverse community of smart, and creative individuals, who just happen to enjoy the added revenue that they see from the website they have so dutifully created.
There are many different ways to generate revenue from your blog. That being said, there are a few very easy money-making steps that many bloggers tend to miss. While it is quite easy to start generating steady income from fixed banner ads that take up valuable real-estate from web pages, this tool only capitalizes on space, as oppose to adding value to the web page itself. When deciding on possible ways to monetize your website, it is important that you take into consideration the big picture. Adding meaningless value will inevitably send an extra flow of cash your way, but how much are those dollars ultimately worth? The key to successfully adding value, is by adding wealth to areas of your website, which your users can benefit from just as much as you can.
A website’s content is the fuel that feeds the tank. Every well thought out blog post can lead to a growth in readership, and that fact alone is just one of the steps to help increase income. Ultimately, well-written content, and trending topics are what lead many bloggers down the road to success, but those two facts alone won’t make you an overnight millionaire. However, if you play your cards right, and keep your head in the game, covering up-to-date topics in a fun and enjoyable way will definitely put you ahead of the rest.
So how do you significantly hike up the value on your latest blog post? Well, if you have a trendy topic and some good content, then chances are you are already off to a great start. The next step is to think strategically about what your users are going to be seeing, and doing while they are reading that latest post, and how you are going to profit off of their behavior without your users even knowing about it. The first trick is actually quite simple. You see all of those banner ads you have spewed on the sidebars of your pages, well, it’s time for a makeover. If today’s hot topic is going to cover Rihanna’s evolving style, then your sidebars better be filled with some fashion-forward ads. The 15 year old reading your post won’t only be staring at the words from the text, in fact, her eyes will be all over the place, and if you can manage to capitalize of her lack of attention span, then you ultimately win.
If you have got the time then this next income-increasing tip will certainly get the dollars rolling in, and will give your website a new appeal. Just because Google Adsense offers profitable banner ads without requiring much effort on the part of the publisher, doesn’t mean that this internet tycoon is the only way to go. If your new blog post is going to cover the latest fall shoe trends, then try scoping out local shops in your area to see if any of the stores would like to advertise their collection of your website. The advertising payout is sure to be quite lucrative depending on the deal you arrange with the shoe store owner, and your users will definitely buy into this audience-targeted strategy.
For any bloggers on the go, perhaps going door to door looking for boutiques who would like to advertise on your site may not be a realistic way to spend your time. Similarly, if your users aren’t all located in the same geographic location, then perhaps advertising a shop too small to find on a map may not be your best bet. In that case, affiliation is probably a word you should become familiar with, if you haven’t already. Many publishers have made the online switch to affiliation in recent years, and rightfully so. A good blog post coupled with a good affiliate program is sure to increase your website’s earnings. Major website’s such as Amazon, eBay, and Groupon all have great affiliate programs, and getting started with any of these big-name websites is quick and easy. But is an affiliate program right for every blogger? I’m afraid not. While the affiliate business can be quite lucrative, major success is normally only achieved by publishers who have a great amount of influence on their users. So if you are just starting out on the blogging scene, I would suggest waiting a while before you give an affiliate program a try. Once your readers are buying what you have to say, however, an affiliate program will definitely help boost your income.
For any bloggers stuck in a creative rut, running a sponsored post is normally a great way to increase income from a blog post, without having to put much thought into the content. If you know someone in the neighborhood who is hosting an upcoming event, or if your local mom and pop shop is having their annual sale next month try getting in touch with the necessary individual to see if they would like to sponsor a post on your website. By writing a sponsored post you will be drawing attention to an important event, or cause, and if you can offer to publish the post a reasonable price, chances are you will get the buzz rolling on a great advertising opportunity for other businesses, and organizations in your area. The key to writing a successful sponsored post is to always keep it real. Try to keep personal opinions to a minimum, and be sure to check all of the facts before you publish them. If your sponsored post is advertising a 50% off sale, be sure that when your users get to the store their discount is nothing less. Blogging is all about building trust among your users, and if you can manage to keep your users happy, the money will be sure to follow.
One of the most important keys to properly increasing income from a single blog post is to work with what you got. Image monetization has recently become a trendy tool that many bloggers are taking advantage of, and the reason being is it allows bloggers to increase their income without having to take up any unused real estate from their web pages. With image monetization, bloggers are able to profit off of the images already located within their newly published blog post, and that my friends is a secret weapon. You see, when a user starts reading through your latest post, he will inevitably spend a good majority of his time staring at any images you have published alongside your text. Image monetization allows publishers to advertise in the one spot users are most likely to stare at the longest. While there are many image monetization tools on the market today, imonomy is one of the few who offers image monetization with class. imonomy doesn’t force feed users their daily dose of advertisements, instead, their content-enrichment technology provides users with more related content from within the website as well as a selection of audience-targeted ads. This recipe let’s the blogger and user simultaneously benefit, which certainly guarantees success.
Blogging can be a tricky game, but when done right, the benefits can be very rewarding. There are many ways to profit from your website, but in my humble opinion, the blogger who focuses on individual pages, and posts instead of trying to monetize the entirety of his website is surely going to end up on top. Ultimately having a successful website means having successful blog posts. So if you want to start putting away a few more pennies in your piggy bank, best to start considering ways to increase income from a single blog post.
Written by Avishai Sam Bitton and Leytal Ross