Blogging for Dollars
By S. Housley
Blogging for dollars might sound like the latest game
show or some new drinking game, but it's the latest craze to hit the
Internet.
Bloggers began blogging for a number of reasons, but
as the blog movement has increased in popularity, they have found
ways to monetize their blogs and are seeing their commitment pay off.
Whether a blogger's focus is to communicate with customers
or just to have fun, they have begun looking at ways to earn revenue
from their blogs. The most popular ways for bloggers to earn some
added cash for their pet projects are:
Google Adsense in Blogs
Google AdSense allows webmasters to dynamically
serve content-relevant advertisements in blogs. If the visitor
clicks one of the AdSense ads served to the blog, the website
owner is credited for the referral.
Webmasters need only to insert a Google-generated java script
into the blog or blog template. Google's spider parses the AdServing
blog and serves ads that relate to the blog's content. Google
uses a combination of keyword matching and context analysis
to determine what ads should be served.
Affiliate Programs (Product Endorsements)
Affiliate Programs work when an affiliate web
site receives income for generating sales, leads, or traffic
to a merchant website. Generally, bloggers will mention or endorse
specific products and if site visitors purchase the product,
bloggers will receive a portion of the sale.
Product Promotion
Businesses use blogs to detail how specific
features or product add-ons can increase functionality and save
time. Content-rich product promotion will help with search engine
placement.
Banner Ads
While less popular than in the past, websites
with high traffic levels can still earn decent revenue by selling
banner space.
As the Internet evolves bloggers will continue to
seek out ways to monetize their opinions and thoughts. Daily journals
and online blogs have become more than just a communication means
to many.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for the NotePage
and FeedForAll
product lines. Other sites by Sharon can be found at http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com
, and http://www.small-business-software.net
