While your blog may have started as a personal diary of your adventures, you can actually benefit from it! For example,you can sell products or ad spaces on your personal blog, which translates to your additional income in either its passive or active forms.
Establishing Your Blog
But before you can sell products or ad spaces on your personal blog, you must first establish it as an authority site. This means that your target audience considers your blog as a reliable authority on the topics discussed in it, said topics of which can be politics, fashion and beauty, and entertainment, among other examples. You have established and maintained a loyal following by publishing relevant, informative, and entertaining posts on your focused topics a hallmark of a viral blog.
Lest you start thinking that becoming an authority site is easy, think again. Most successful bloggers (i.e., bloggers who have financially benefited from their websites) have put in the hard work coupled with the passion and determination to make it, so to speak, in their niches. You must, too, so that you can sell products or ad spaces on your personal blog and generate good income from doing so.
Tips on establishing your blog in your niche:
- Ensure that your website has good form and function. Its attractive design (i.e., aesthetics in terms of color, layout, and fonts used) and functional features (i.e., easy-to-use navigation, searchable pages) should complement each other. If necessary, you must learn how to build a website from scratch or if you cannot for any reason, subscribe to a web building service.
- Ensure that your content is reader-friendly. Content is king! Enough said.
With excellent website design and development coupled with excellent content, your website should have a loyal following in less time than you expected. The more readers (i.e., visitors) you have, the more chances for earning active and passive income!
Choosing Your Method
When your blog has been established, many companies including advertisers will come to you or you can come to them for business transactions. You can then benefit from your blog by one or a few or all of the following methods:
- Sell advertising space. When your blog has high traffic, advertisers are more likely to promote their products on your website although it must be emphasized that the products and services advertised are usually related to your topics. Just keep your ad slots filled for a steady income.
- Join affiliate programs. You can earn money by becoming an affiliate marketer, a great thing when your blog is relatively new.
- Feature pay-per-click ads. Your blog can have Google AdSense ads, which is certainly the most popular method for monetizing blogs. Your success will largely depend on how well you can convince your readers subtly, of course of the benefits of clicking on these ads.
- Promote or sell products. You have a more direct way of benefiting from your blog sell your products and services on it! Think of any product or service related to the topic of your blog, say, makeup for a fashion and beauty blog, or pet accessories for a pet care blog, or books for a politics blog. You will find that your status as an authority figure of your chosen topic will boost your sales, too, since your readers are more likely to purchase your recommended products and services.
- Sell premium content. Your blog may be free but you can also sell premium content via paid memberships or paid content. Your readers will likely pay for the content because of their expectation that, indeed, it will give them an edge in terms of the information provided or the entertainment enjoyed. Your reputation as an authority figure is at stake here so you must be careful in posting content.
Ultimately, your ability to benefit from your blog largely depends on your capability to put in the hard work. Go for it!
