Discover Passion and Profit in A Blog

You have selected a topic that you love and started a blog. For most of us, we are passionate about that topic and it is a fun place to write our thoughts. While the word “blog” has become common it started from the term web log or a place on the web to log your thoughts. According to one site, there are over 450 million active English blogs.

I enjoy writing in my blog yet in these challenging economic times, I also see the value in combining my passion with earning some money. Over the next several entries of The Writing Life, I want to show you several different ways you can either start a blog or begin to earn from your blog. And since a blog is so flexible, there are plenty of ways to monetize it.

Here are the top three ways:

1. Sell your products.

This is the most obvious way to make money with a blog: If you have products or services to sell, then promote them on your blog.

You can put permanent banners and text ads in the sidebar. I encourage you to take a moment and look closely at what I've done on The Writing Life. If you click some of the banners, you will see they refer to some of my products such as my Write A Book Proposal course or my book, Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. You can also weave your product links into your actual blog posts.

Example: Let’s suppose you’re selling a weight loss book on your blog. You can post a “Top 10 Tips for Losing Weight” article on your blog. And then at the end of the article you can include a link to your book, “101 Tips for Losing Weight.” If people like your 10 tips, then they’ll be eager to buy your book.

Why does this work so well?

Because blogging gives you the opportunity to showcase your expertise. When you establish yourself as a trusted expert, people are more likely to buy from you.

2. Sell affiliate products.

Don’t have your own products?

No problem: You can sell affiliate products. That means that you get a commission every time someone buys a product or service through your affiliate link.

There are plenty of big companies that have affiliate programs. One of the most popular affiliate programs for physical products is the a Amazon.com program, simply because your buyers already know and trust Amazon.com.

But if you’re going to sell downloadable information products, then one of the best affiliate programs is via Clickbank.com, where you’ll find thousands upon thousands of products to sell. Best of all, the commission rates are generous. You’ll see them as high as 50% and even 75%! I've written a free 30–page Ebook, You Can Make Money. Just follow the link and get it.

3. Insert AdSense ads.

Still another way to make money on your blog is by showing Google AdSense ads on your site. You make money every time someone clicks on your ad!

Here’s the biggest benefit of this method:

You don’t have to sell a thing. You don’t have to convince anyone to buy. All you have to do is post good content on your site to attract prospects… and you get paid every time they click on an ad. It’s easy!

What’s next?

I’m sure by now you can see that there’s a world of profitable opportunities waiting for anyone who wants to start up a blog.

If you’d like to know what the Internet's wealthiest bloggers know about making money with a blog, then look no further than The 31 Day Guide to Blogging For Bucks. I encourage you to get your copy right now—risk-free since you can use it for 60 days. This guide will really open your eyes to the possibilities!