Blogging can be rewarding for anyone with an passion for writing, however an experienced blogger with a strong readership is in a position to turn this hobby into a thriving business. Believe it or not, there are many bloggers out there who earn their entire income from their blog alone, and there are no hidden secrets involved. In fact, there are several proven approaches to turning your pass time into a revenue-generating machine, but it won’t happen overnight. If you are ready to put in the work required to make the leap from hobbyist to professional blogger, consider the following tips.
Focus On Search Engine Optimization
Now that your goal is to convert your blog into a profitable business, it is important to generate a consistent stream of new readers. For this reason, search engine optimization (SEO) techniques need to be a vital part of your professional skill set. There are many techniques that are said to please the search engines, but the two you should be most concerned with are linking and content formatting.
Seek to exchange links with other blogs relevant to your subject matter. Search engines see links from related sources as a sign of credibility and authority in your field.
The structure of your content should follow some basic formatting rules that help search engines discern what your blog is all about. Putting the main keyword (or theme of the content) in header tags, and using important keywords as anchor text to relevant outbound links are a good start. For a full list of SEO formatting techniques, check out this guide from Yoast.
Learn As Much As Possible About Your Audience
Before you can begin generating money from your blog, you must understand your audience inside and out. Only when you know what they respond to, what problems they have that you can solve, and exactly why they come to your blog, can you hope to effectively sell to them. Look back through past entries and make note of which posts got the best reactions, the worst comments, the most shares, etc. Use this knowledge to build a profile of your average loyal reader.
Advertising
Some professional bloggers prefer a passive revenue model, ie – one that allows them to continue blogging as normal and earn revenue simply from attracting readers. If this is the model you prefer, advertising is a great way to go. Major search engines such as Google Adsense and Yahoo Advertising offer programs that enable blog owners to get paid for hosting advertisements on their sites. The best of these services ensure blogger satisfaction by using “contextual triggers” that can tell what your blog is about, and only display ads that are relevant to your content.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a more active style of advertising than simply displaying ads, but the pay-offs could potentially be much higher. When you affiliate market, you are acting as a salesman for another company, and are paid on commission for every lead or sale you deliver them. In blogging, this is can be done by mentioning the product in an article or advertisement, so long as it is relevant to the discussion at hand.
As an example, if you are writing about how to properly build a computer and you recommend a certain processor that you feel is the best on the market, you might be able to affiliate with the manufacturer and get paid for the business you send them. If you are interested, Commission Junction is one of the biggest networks for finding and applying for affiliate programs. A word of caution – make sure you are still producing quality content and not shamelessly plugging every offer you can find, as most readers can see straight through that and will not return to your blog.
Sell Premium Content
If you are opposed to advertising altogether, creating premium content is a flexible way to turn your blog into a thriving business. Flexible is the key word here, because there are so many ways that bloggers have found to use this approach, and no matter what your niche is there is a good chance it can work for you. Premium content is anything you can create that builds on or expands the knowledge you share in your free blog posts, and that readers are willing to pay for.
As an example, if your blog is about playing guitar, you might create DVD courses that teach beginners how to play various styles of music. If you run a cooking blog, you could sell an ebook that contains all the best recipes from your site plus a bunch more that will “never be published for free.” This strategy works best when readers consistently enjoy your specific content and find that you speak to their needs in a way no one else does.
Pay per Consult
Another popular strategy for turning your blog into a business is to offer consulting services on your subject. This is typically seen in blogs that deal in business-related topics, such as marketing and management. If you are recognized by your readers as an authority in your field, and possess the skills necessary to solve a broad range of problems your audience is facing, consider offering paid phone and email consultations.
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