5 Ways to Start Earning From Your Blog

Blogging for profit is not always the first thing on your mind when you set out to start a blog but it is always nice to know the options that are available to you. Making some extra income from your blogging efforts will certainly reward you for the time and effort you put into maintaining your blog and here are my favourite ways I monetize my blogs.

1. Become an affiliate and add banners to your blog.

One of the easiest ways to start earning from your blog is to join an affiliate program and add some banners to your blog. The best converting banners will be those that closely match your blogs topic. You should only place a few banners in optimal places on your blog, don't overdo it as this will turn your readers off. You can find affiliate programs in your niche by typing 'niche name' + 'affiliate program' in a search engine; this will look like this for the dog behaviour niche - 'dog behaviour affiliate program'.

2. Let your readers know you having advertising slots available.

This is a great way of letting your community of readers know that you allow for personal advertising requests. The best way to do this is to add an 'Advertising' section on your contact page or subpage. Give as much information as possible and sell your space; example: Advertising on our homepage for 30 days for the one-time low price of $47. You can also offer 3 months advertising for the price of 2 to get you started.

3. Add Google Adsense.

This is a popular method of adding a revenue stream to a blog. Register for your very own Google Adsense account and then simply plug the code into your blogs theme where you would like the Adsense ads to be displayed. The best converting ads will fit will with your theme by having matching colors and be discretely placed. Word of warning: never ever click on your own Adsense ads as you will get your account suspended.

4. Review products and websites.

This is one of the best ways to earn from your blog and can be a natural progression for anyone who has a long established blog. Review a product or website that interests you and your readers (and also fits in with your blogs topics), and add your affiliate link for your readers to click-through if they wish to read more or make a purchase. Honest reviews will convert best, you cannot love every product your review!

5. Monetize your RSS feed.

This tip is one of the best revenue earners for most bloggers. Add ads to your RSS feed. You can do this easily using Feedburner which is owned by Google. Let Feedburner manage your RSS feeds and then merge your Feedburner account with your Adsense account. You'll be surprised at the click-throughs you get from this method.

Get started today, and start making money from your blog.