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Ask a Blogger: How to Make Money Blogging

by Dana Zeliff on March 13, 20112011-03-13
in Ask a Blogger

Disclosure: This post may contain an affiliate link.

How do you make money Blogging?

I want to first say it takes money to make money. We have talked about hosting and design. What we have not talked about is time and your initial monetary investment. I say that time is money. Madame Deals started at a coffee shop there were a bunch of us “moms” sitting together talking about saving money. We then moved to a yahoo group and on to Blogger. When we figure out you could not make money on Blogger then we made the move to Word Press. The reason is the amount of time associated with running a site requires some sort of financial gain or at the very least breaking even. I would say you can expect to be “broke” for six months. It will take you that long or longer to figure out what you need to do to make money. It will take you longer to build your fan base so you can actually make money. I am nowhere near quitting my day job nor do I intend to do so. The site operates at a profit but if I take time off then there will be no profit. There are two ways to make money passive and active.

In order to make income in the passive category you need to have set yourself up in the active category. What I mean by active is you must have good content on your site, readers, a social media presence, and a strategy. You must offer something that is unique and different … “a niche”. I thought about what I wanted Madame Deals’ niche to be and that is multiple people’s perspectives on life. I am a very different saver/spender than the ladies I have on the website sharing with you. It is my hope that you will find something from each person which is shared with you and it motivates you, inspires you, and engages you in changes that makes your life better. In order to be in the active category, you must network with other bloggers. You must make friends and be a team player. You have to build relationships. I suggest you visit three blogs a day and leave thoughtful comments. It helps get your name out there and build relationships.

The next thing you need to do is sign up for affiliate programs. Here is my page full of sponsors sign up. I recommend choosing a sponsor which represents products you like. I began doing reviews for free just to get things to giveaway. It also helps you build content and relationships. I suggest you promote your company every chance you have. If you are serious about your blog, treat it like a company. Have business cards made up and then give them to everyone you know. Don’t be afraid to give your business card to strangers.

You need to be organized and figure out what works and what isn’t working. I would suggest signing up at site like goggle analytics to see which articles are bringing customers to your site. Then write more articles on those topics. Engage your readers in conversations so you get to know who comes to your site and find out what interests them. I suggest you make changes only if it fits with your vision. Develop a daily schedule of tasks and responsibilities. Ensure that you include time each day for posts, bonding with other bloggers, engaging your readers on social media, researching new topics, reviewing your reach/ stats, and working towards one improvement you have in mind. Determine a weekly goal and evaluate how to make it happen. I find if I do not have a schedule, I waste a lot of time being nosy. I have been working actively on increasing my social media influence. That has been my goal for the last three months. I spend time everyday looking at other sites and taking what works and using those tactics myself. I am honest when I say I am here to help others but I am also here to help my family at the same time. I work on this site because it keeps my spending on track. I consider Madame Deals my online journal for living life within the budget and Making Dollars Out of Change.

I will talk about passive ways to make money next week….

Leave us your questions and we will answer them in future columns! If you have an article you would like to submit for future columns, email us through our contact us buttons on our sites.

Looking for more blogging tips? Search for Ask a Blogger

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If you need hosting, we both use Host Gator and Love them.

Do you want to know who sponsors Madame Deals? We make a SMALL percent on some of the things you buy. If you like our site, shop with us so we can keep it running. If you are a blogger and you want to start making money on your site, click on our sponsors and sign up for their Affiliate programs.You can email us at [email protected] if you need contact information.

Filed Under: Ask a Blogger

Trackbacks

  1. Ask a Blogger: Make Money Blogging by Connecting with Other Bloggers says:
    March 20, 2011 at 6:56 am

    […] week Amee talked about a topic that most bloggers are eager to learn more about, How to Make Money Blogging.  I learned early on that blogging takes a tremendous amount of time.  You must write content, […]

    Reply
  2. ASK A Blogger | Madame Deals says:
    March 20, 2011 at 9:39 am

    […] week Amee talked about a topic that most bloggers are eager to learn more about, How to Make Money Blogging. I learned early on that blogging takes a tremendous amount of time. You must write content, stay […]

    Reply
  3. What is the Difference Between LLC and S-Corp says:
    March 4, 2012 at 8:39 am

    […] treated as such when considering taxes and liability. We can post all day about Blogging Tips & How to Make Money Blogging but at the end of the day, you better be on top of your […]

    Reply
  4. Ask a Blogger says:
    March 4, 2012 at 5:16 pm

    […] treated as such when considering taxes and liability. We can post all day about Blogging Tips & How to Make Money Blogging but at the end of the day, you better be on top of your […]

    Reply

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Hi! I'm Dana, the writer behind the scenes of The Coupon Challenge, a Hampton Roads, VA based coupon blog. I'm a wife and mother of 2. After getting out of debt we started using our savings to travel together as a family and create memories.

Are you looking for ways to save your family money? I strive to help you save on the products you need, so you can spend more on the things you want. Read More about Dana & Family

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