There are many ways in which one can earn money online but blogging is the simplest and the most interesting way of online earnings. As it only involves a computer and an internet connection.
Before making money online with blogging, the related analysis is important to track how your business and brand are being discussed on blogs so as to better understand your consumers' (blog readers) perspective:
* Monitor the Web for references to your brand, key officers, and major competitors to be selected:
* Set up tracking on Google News Alerts, Technorati, and PubSub. You must be able to react to relevant topics brewing in the blogosphere before they become full-blown issues. Involve PR in this process, and respond quickly and decisively to engage bloggers.
* Analyze comments, links, and trackbacks (define) to determine the relative importance of audience perceptions of your blogs. Use tools such as Intelliseek's BlogPulse or a firm such as BuzzMetrics. This analysis will help determine who the influencers are and what their connectivity level is.
* Analyze broader category or product information. Consumers may discuss products in general terms, without using brand names or model numbers. So narrow tracking may not reveal the full picture. Monitor the information landscape to determine the macro trends and issues that influence buyers and the language they use.
After finishing the analysis, here are some common ways to earn money from your blog:
A) Advertising: Advertising is the most common source of revenue for a blog. There are different types of ads — on page ads, pop-up and pop-under ads. The most commonly used advertising technique is PPC or ‘Pay Per Click’. Popular PPC networks are Google Adsense, Yahoo, Bidvertiser, chitika etc. First you have to register with a PPC network and paste some ad codes on your blog. These ads will be relevant to the topic of your blog. When some visitor clicks on these ads, you make some money.
There is another type of ad network, known as CPM network, which pays you according to the page views or the number of impressions which the ads displayed on your blog generate. The payment is generally made for each 1000 impressions. CPM ad networks are suitable for such blogs which have high traffic and high page views. You can also directly sell your own advertising space on the blog. It helps to increase your revenue by eliminating middleman commissions.
B) Sponsored Posts/Reviews: You can earn by writing sponsored posts on your blog. There are different sponsored review networks which pay you to write reviews about different websites or products on your blog. Some popular sponsored review networks are ‘Pay Per Post’, Smorty, ‘Sponsored Reviews’ etc. This is a good way to earn some decent money from your blog.
C) Affiliate marketing: Affiliate marketing is another way to earn from your blog. It involves selling other people’s products for a commission. Apart from earning per sale, you can also earn by providing leads ( CPA or CPL). The different affiliate marketing networks are Clickbank, Commission Junction, Link Share etc.
D) Other sources: There are other ways to earn from your blog. You can provide a job board or market place on your blog and earn commissions. You can also place a ‘Donate’ button or link on your blog and receive donations from your visitors.
In summary, if you believe that blogging is the simpliest and cheapest way to earn money online, you can definitely monetize your blog in various ways and earn a handsome income from it.
