I got this odd question from a person in Gainesville who apparently have some blog. He was like how do you make sales from your blog and earn profit? I am sure when you enter the blogging industry, you have the same questions. Heck I had the same question. And I learned the answer by observing other top bloggers. There were few things that I found that were noticeable.

Consistency

All the top bloggers are consistent. If they are writing one post a day, then they will have one post every day. They just don’t decide not to post on weekends because not enough users reply. I was at Izeafest 08, and John Chow made a very good point. That he has been writing 2.8 posts a day from the start. Meaning one day he would make 2, or someday he would write 3. Basically the idea was that he would have a new post every day. And if he have more then he would post more. But you got to be consistent. Some people have issues such as well I was on a trip. Which is understandable, but for the most part you can avoid it. I mean I took a 3 day trip. I made sure for the two days I had the post, and one day I slacked. But the other two days I had the post for which is better than 0. All you have to do is schedule posts. But the key is you have to be consistent to show the readers that you actually care about them.

Personality and Voice

I don’t know if you really notice, but a lot of top bloggers, I will say almost all speak in first person. The reason for that is no body want to sit on their ass and watch some snob tell them what to do. I mean seriously while psychology shows that people who are smarter are usually liked more, but people who pretend to be Mr. Know It All are not very well liked. So you have to have your own personality in the blog. People like people who they can relate to. Show them that you are not one of those scammers when you are selling a product.

Honest Feedback

There are some blogs that just talk about positive while others that are very honest. I mean I have reviewed sites where I have highlighted bad parts of the site, and I have reviewed sites like Store Stacker which I found very good, so I didn’t write anything bad. But the idea is not good and bad. But the idea is being honest in your review. So always be honest. Don’t try to be a suck up. As one of the better speakers that I have listened to said: “Only suck ups like suck ups, and I am sure you are not one of them” – Merlin Mann

Add Value

There are bunch of blogs that are there just for the heck of it. People just like to blabber, but you want to stand out. So add some value. Share some knowledge, tutorials, tips that you have learned over your experience. That is the only way people would give you authority, and think of you as a credible person.

Credibility and Authority is one of the main things that I noticed you need. And you can obtain that by doing the things that I mentioned above. Then simply embed links in your post. So if you recommend one hosting service, then keep recommending that one and be consistent. Unless something bad happens with that company. Because that way you make more sales. I know my main source of income is CJ and a lot of those are hosting sales. Just embed the links in related content on your posts.

This is a guest blog post by Dr. Teeth from Blogging Buzz

So you want to make money from your blog, well you are certainly not alone but you are probably finding that to make money, you need traffic and you are also not alone there either. Millions of bloggers want traffic but you need to learn how to get it to your blog and not it let pass you by.

One of the most important things to consider is your content. Your blog content needs to be quality content that is updated regularly. Creating your blog and then leaving it to fade into the background is certainly not going to bring you any traffic. Search engine crawlers are always looking for fresh, quality content. Keywords are important when writing content on your blog and so make sure that you are choosing the right content with the right keywords to attract those crawlers.

Not only will this attract the search engine crawlers to your blog, but it will also encourage your viewers and subscribers to return often to your site, boost your comments and get more referrals to your blog. Your readers want to see dedication to a blog that is regularly updated and is full of quality content.

Next, you need to tag it, make use of the tags on your blog and every time you write a new post remember to use your tags. You can do this manually in your blog or if you are using a platform such as Wordpress then make use of the plug-ins they have available, such as their SimpleTags plug-in. Make sure, that you tag every keyword in your post, by using tags effectively, you will see an increase in quality traffic, very quickly.

As with all things, if you want to make money with your blog and get traffic, you can not just sit back and wait for it to land on your lap, you need to get your blog out there.

Millions of bloggers are writing similar posts and creating similar blogs to yours and so use that to your advantage. Comment on their blog posts and leave a link to your blog, there is a massive community for bloggers and so you need to become a part of that. Not only add your link to other blogs, anywhere and everywhere you possibly can. Whether it is online around various forums or as a signature in your email, also do it offline especially if you have business cards, then add your blog address to them.

Another way to get traffic to your blog and a way that many bloggers are starting to jump on the band wagon with is pinging. Using pinging software such as Ping-O-Matic can benefit your blog no end when it comes to driving traffic to it, pinging is basically sending out a signal to search engines and weblog tracking sites that you have new content on your blog. So, every time you update your blog and add new content, ping it.

There are many other ways to drive traffic to your blog, such as adding your blog to traditional search engines, article directories and social bookmarking sites. Social bookmarking sites such as Digg and StumbleUpon are becoming a popular choice for bloggers to drive traffic to their blog.

You may come across offers and various types of software that can increase your traffic, there are many programs that people are offering bloggers at a cost, with a promise to increase their traffic with automated traffic generators. Though many of them can do this and no doubt work effectively for some bloggers, proceed with caution. There is really no need to be parting with your hard earned cash for a promise of traffic when with a little time and effort you can get your own traffic for free.

Thanks Dr. Teeth for providing this article to Balkhis users. Check out his site Blogging Buzz

Experts continue to argue this point. Whether you should start monetizing your blog from the beginning, or whether you should wait and get a good audience first. Then you can monetize your site. I thought this was becoming too big of an issue with newer blogs, so I should put my opinions out.

Bloggers when they start are very indecisive. They don’t know when they want to monetize their site, so I will just put down some of the advantages and disadvantages of each option. Then put in my opinion.

Before we get into that, I want to take care of some vocabulary:

*Too many ads – When you have ads taking over the content. (Example). Note: He put this many ads after he was popular. Not from the start.

*Early Stages – New blog brand new. 3 months old blog = Brand New.

*Later on the road – 8 months and older.

Monetizing from the Start

Advantages

• Trust and Credibility
  Believe it or not, some people don’t take your blog seriously, if you don’t have any ads because a moderately monetized site indicates an established blog. Also your readers know what to expect from the start rather than down the road. When you have ads on the earlier stage, and you get advertisers, it builds credibility and trust with them. Those companies can later recommend you.
• Self-Motivation
  Motivation is one of those things that keeps you going as a blogger. Many bloggers get motivated by different things, but some get motivated by revenue. They keep blogging to see if they can make even more than what they make with the blog at the beginning stage.

Disadvantages

• Social Media is not for you
  As I mentioned in my post about promoting a blog, Social media was one of my #1 strategy. But you have to be careful, if you load your site with too many ads, then you won’t find social media to work in your favor. But moderate ads, won’t hurt your social media campaign.
• Some are unhappy
  You can’t really satisfy everyone. Some people might take your blog seriously because you have ads because they are thinking your blog is more established, while others get annoyed. They think you are blogging just to make money. Thats why they won’t consider you. (Once again, I think this is only when you have too many ads).

Monetizing Down the Road

Advantages

• Better Payout
  When you have a new blog, you can’t charge high fees to display ads on your blog, but with an established blog you can definitely ask for a higher spot rate.
• You know what option to take
  Analyzing your blog traffic for a good amount of time, you know who is your audience, and what they want. Then you can go right ahead and pick out the best products for your blog, and maximize your revenue. (You have to do this by trial and error if you start early)

Disadvantages

• Compatibility Issues
  When you had your first blog design, it wasn’t for the ads. Therefore, if you try adding ads in it. It might not look good. Therefore you might end up having to get a completely new design.
• Some Readers are Pissed
  Some readers feel that since now you have your blog established, now you only care about making more and more money. They are annoyed by the new ads integration. Like I said, you can’t keep everyone happy. Just go with whoever is the majority. Or just go with what you think is best for you after all it is your blog. (Usually this will only happen, if you put too many ads on the site)

Which method did Balkhis take?

I took the monetizing early method because personally, I don’t believe in the theory that monetizing early ruin the quality of your blog. I had good content on the site from the start. My ads weren’t over powering the content. I only had 125×125 buttons on one side, and 468 x 60 banner. Thats all. Nothing that was very annoying. As my audience grew, I switched different affiliate offers around. It was done through trial and error. Balkhis is a growing blog. No where near the top, but We have made good progress with this blog. If you are not putting too many ads on your site then you should be good to go from the start.

I know when I was reading the career list, I never saw one that said making money online. Our world is still in the old days and stuck with Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers and other daily work day jobs as a great career. I mean I am in college, the next person I talk to is either pre-med, pre-law, or engineering major. Now we all know half of these people won’t even go onto become a doctor, or a lawyer, but they have these false hopes. That is given to them by their parents. Now when was the last time you heard a parent telling their kids, Hey you are going to be the next online millionaire. Heck a next online billionaire.

I mean believe me when I say this, alot of people still think that the Internet is risky. Hell half the world is running and relying on internet. Online stores are open 24/7 without the fear of robbery at gun point, and people think that dot com businesses are bound to fail.

Ever tried taking an economics class. First thing they tell you is that dot com businesses doesn’t have a very established platform. Well that is because these people don’t even consider that making money online is an option. An easy option which alot of people are now realizing it, and those who have realized it are making a living now.

I mean people from the countries that have high unemployment rates. Why don’t they have a major in colleges called Making Money Online. Heck Search Engine Optimization. I know what a major is Graphic Designing. These people go technology institutes for 4 years, and they learn all about graphic designing. Their skills are undescribable and imagination is beyond the limits, but they still end up working at a company for a salary.

But no one ever think about hey I can make more money doing these designs and not have to go to work. A graphic designer gets paid 25,000 rupees every month in Pakistan if that much. Rough Estimate for a beginner. Now converting that to US Dollars it only becomes $357. Now they work for entire month in which they produce good 3 – 4 sites. Even more sometimes. Their skill level is well beyond mine and they do great work. Now if one of them just wait to think for one moment and say hey, I can get a contract online and make 4 designs for $150 and make more money than this. How many of you would go for a custom unique good looking design for $150. I know I would… because that is dirt cheap for a custom website design.

They are only held back because no one ever told them about this sort of thing. No one told them about making money online. It could be the parents who can take the initiating step. They can tell their kids that. I don’t know if any organizations are interested in this, but I believe that big organizations, big companies can also put together a campaign like this to eliminate poverty in the countries with high unemployment rate. Hopefully Bill and Linda Gates foundation is seeing this post. I would go and be a speaker.

Take a look at a corner book store. Do you have it in your country aside from U.S. Come on my Indian and Asian audience. Well I am only referring to these countries because the $ converting to these currency is alot. So now if all of these owners instead of going out of business can sell their books either online on ebay, and in store. They will make good profit. I say ebay because they can get good shipping because Amazon have standard shipping cost, and shipping internationally cost more.

When will the society change and start recognizing you, me, us as a well hardworking human being. I mean I get alot of comments like oo you do the lazy work. “I never see you working”. Your work is so easy. Comments like those. Well if I make good 50k – 80k income a year, there is nothing wrong with my career. I make more than an average american family.

If there are parents who are reading this post please go talk to your kids and explain that they have this option also. Get them to work online while they are going through school rather than going and working at a local store for $8 / hour.

Also if you are reading this and want to support the cause, please make a post about this topic on your blog. This is Balkhis attempt to cut down unemployment rate around the world and show the people a new Vision for Success.

Kontera is a in-content text link advertising program. I hope you guys know what I am talking about because it was on Balkhis until last week. This basically take the keywords in your content and make it a hyper link which will open in a tooltip that will show an ad and if the user likes the ad, they will click, and you get money. Or they will accidently click, and you will make money. But the money in this case is not enough for me to keep going.

Why am I giving up? Read on…

Site Load

Kontera was causing my site to load slow. I don’t know if you have seen even when the site loads, In the status bar it will still show loading dc.kontera… Which was very annoying because the site would never load. Often times especially…[Read the Full Post]