Can your blog sustain a predictable income? We all know it takes work to pad your bank account by blogging (well, at least those of us who have been doing this for at least a few months quickly realize this).
Is it enough to offset your costs for those of you who have earned money so far? We only talk under US$ 100 annually if you're running a self-hosted blog. And I will miss the countless hours you've spent setting up your site, researching topics, writing articles, and promoting your site. Be honest with yourself: are your earnings worth your effort so far?
So why can some people earn as much as they want while others struggle to pull in pennies? A single blog post can only simplify some parts of the success formula. However, what I want to do today is to offer a few tips for earning an income. Not just any income, a predictable income. That means you make it when you want to make it. It may not be a lot initially, but it will be on your schedule.
This predictable income applies to prominent blogs and small blogs. Obviously, the amount of money that comes in is scaled to the number of visitors you can attract to your site. We all know about passive income production methods, like Google AdSense and text links. We also know how little you can make with just those, so let's look at a few other more active income tactics.
Ways to earn a predictable income blogging
1. Post an article about your affiliate
I don't do this as much as I probably should, but in the past, I've written an article about nearly every one of my affiliates. My GoDaddy affiliate link gives me a steady number of sales per month. However, when I write about using GoDaddy for hosting, I get a spike every few days. BTW, an average GoDaddy sale nets me $70.Since I only post a handful of articles a month, you will see only a few of these from me a year. However, if you're a more frequent poster, try an 'affiliate plug' article once a month.
2. Ask for advertisers for your ad blocks
Some advertisers will give you a certain monthly amount for an ad block. You just have to make it known that space is available. If you have six ad blocks, you can always fill five with your affiliates and leave one open that's labeled for sale. The amount depends on your site's traffic, but $25/month for a 125×125 block above the fold is reasonable for a site under 100k Alexa ranking and at least Google PageRank 2.If your Alexa and PR aren't where you want them to be, you may need to ask for less.
3. Offer to write a sponsored article
Post an article offering to write a sponsored article. If you are a good writer (with supporting evidence based on your other articles), someone may pay you good money to discuss their site. Remember, they will not pay you just for your excellent writing skills. You'll also have to provide a few backlinks.I've written a few of these over the last few months. Each of those netted me a nice boost during those periods. Again, the amount depends greatly on your Alexa and PR, but if you're just starting out, $25 for a 500-word, 3-backlink article is an excellent start. Once you're more experienced and your site has more traffic, charging over $100 per article is reasonable.
Find you're earning a sweet spot.
As many of you regulars know, I don't sustain this site just to earn an income. I enjoy it and don't do it just for the money. I treat this site as fun — just not my full-time job. This site provides me with satisfactory earnings based on the time I'm willing to spend on it. I also enjoy my other jobs, and this is just one egg out of many eggs in many baskets. Only you can decide how much money is worth the time you spend on your site. Hopefully, this article makes it easier for you to make that determination.So, have you tried any of these?
0 Comments