A weblog (blog for short) is an online journal, diary or editorial of sorts. Part of the attraction to blogs, at the onset, was that blogs supported a sense of community on the internet. Weblogs usually focus on particular niche interests such as photography, copywriting or kite making. Some blogs are just a place for everyday people, like you and I, to try to get their voices heard. Some are educational and others are very editorial like.
The difference between a blog and a regular website is the editorial nature of the content and the interaction between the reader and the author of the blog. When you read a blog, you normally have the opportunity to post a comment about what the author has written. Others can post too. This can be in response to your comment or the blog entry on that page. When you become familiar with the blogging (the act of writing a blog) community you will begin to realize that blogs are written by people just like you. It is a very personal experience for most, and I think that is what makes it most appealing to me.
Blogs as a Source of Income
Of course, just like almost everything else online, many different methods of making money through blogging now exist. While the list below is not all-inclusive, it will provide you with the most popular and proven methods of how people make money blogging. This information has been compiled from those who are currently involved in successful blogging careers.
Advertising Space- Selling advertising space on your blog
E-Malls- Online stores with product listings as ads integrated into your blog
Affiliate Programs– Driving traffic from your blog to merchants in exchange for a percentage of sales
Proprietary Items (sales)- Selling your items, software or information on your site
Google AdSense– Placing Google ads directly on your blog pages and receiving a small fee every time one of your blog readers clicks on one of the ads
Self Promotion– promoting your services (coaching, copywriting, etc…) through your blog
A Bright Future
Now that the internet has become a primary vehicle for businesses, the focus has shifted to developing communities and personal interactions between communities. The days of the static website are numbered; search engines must navigate through over 100 million websites in their task of creating the index for their directories. Websites that do not refresh their content on a regular basis will find themselves sinking in the search engine results listings and will eventually be excluded.
The recent prominence of weblogs is partially due to the benefits of the weekly, or even daily, the addition of new content. If set up properly, fresh new content will “invite” the search engines to return to your site and index it again and again and again.The Key Points to Successful Blog
· Choosing what to blog about· Choosing where to host your blog· Make market researchWhere I go for it
─ Amazon Best Sellers
I love using this source of data. Best of all it's free. Here's the link. This information is updated every hour so you can know what people are buying in any niche you're researching.─ Dummies.com
This is the website for the Dummies series of books. If they have a book on it…it's a niche worth considering.─ Google Forum Search
Type "Niche+ Forum" into Google and start finding forums in your niche. The threads that are "hot" (some programs make a flame right next to the thread after 20 posts) are good little ways to find out what people are struggling with.─ Popular Blog Posts
One of the easiest ways to legally and ethically hijack ideas is to scan the "most popular" posts sections of the blogs in your niche. There are plugins which make a list of the toolbars of blogs that show the most commented, most read, or "author's favorites" type of things.You can make money blogging by utilizing a blog site and the techniques that link your site to the internet and the network of individuals who are interested in what you have to say, your product offerings or the services you provide. But, and this is a BIG “But,” it will not be a walk in the park. Running a profitable blog takes determination, dedication and a high level of effort to monetize it successfully. You will not make money blogging overnight, but with some effort and TLC, your blog can become a money making the machine!