Let’s start with a big assumption. You’re writing your blog to make money, to earn a living, not to share fun stories about what’s going on with your family or what you’re up to with your favorite hobby or activity. If you’re putting in the work, doing the research, and growing the audience, chances are you’d like to get paid for your hard work. And for that to happen, you have to monetize your blog posts. Let’s look at three different ways to do just that.

Make Product Recommendations Directly on Your Blog

One of the easiest things to get started with is to make recommendations directly in your blog posts. These can be your own products or something you’re an affiliate for. If you want something really simple to try, sign up for the Amazon affiliate program and as you blog about things, work in a product here or there. Continue reading →

Blogging can feel like a very one-sided conversation sometimes. You’re sitting there, typing away, and sharing content with your readers. But you don’t hear anything back. They read and respond with silence. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be that way.

Blogs were designed to facilitate engagement and communications. There’s a reason you can leave comments and all it takes is a little encouragement to get your own readers to do that on your blog. Combine that with a little social media interaction and there’s no reason you can’t turn this into a fully engaged conversation that will help you grow a loyal base of fans.

Because let’s face it, while it’s nice for our ego to get lots of comments and interactions, when you’re blogging for a living what really counts is making enough money to pay your bills at the end of the month. And for that to happen you need a loyal audience that not only knows, likes, and trusts you but is also comfortable spending money with you or your sponsors. And for that to happen you need an engaged audience. Continue reading →