Tag Archives: blog for money

Make Money Blogging? The Game is Changing

make money blogging

by Joe Wallace

We all want to make money blogging by inserting Google Adsense, Chitika and other pay-per-click or affiliate links.  According to a recent AdWeek story the landscape could be changing, especially for those who struggle with the technology to insert ad code and modify blog templates to accomodate it.

According to AdWeek, an experiment is underway by the Wall Street Journal and other top-level publishers. What do readers get during the test? Something called “interruptive” ads” that pop up as you try to access a web page.

It’s not a new idea, but according to AdWeek if the idea catches on there will be much more intrusive advertising cluttering up our laptop screens.

What does this mean for bloggers?

For those using freebie WordPress, Blogspot and other platforms, some of these ads will happen with or without your permission if the owners adopt a more aggressive ad policy. For others, the challenge will be incorporating these more intrusive ads into their current placement systems. If Google hops on board, chances are the ads will eventually be as ubiquitous as the hated pop-up once was.

For blogging noobs eager to make a buck with as little effort possible, this experiment is probably a welcome development, but for the rest of us who actually care about readership it feels a lot like a step backwards to web 1.0. aesthetics.

In fact, intrusive ads–in the minds of some (me) are just as annoying as pop-ups and (with luck) the shelf life of this not-so-new ad delivery method could be limited. But the future could hold a vast amount of annoyance if this experiment gains traction.



Get a Freelance Job by Example

freelance-writing-advice

by Joe Wallace

Sometimes the only way to get a freelance job is to create an example of what you’re capable of and have it ready to show a potential client. Do you want to get hired as a blogger or an advice columnist? Consider setting up a portfolio website that showcases the skills you want to use as a freelancer.

Are you an aspiring political blogger? Don’t wait for someone else to hire you–start creating the kind of content you want to write and point your next editor to those posts. You might be surprised twice–if your blog takes off you’ve got a supplemental income to tide you over til the next gig.

If your blog does modestly, you still have something to show your next client as an example of what you do best…and you won’t have to rely solely on building up a list of published clips to prove what you can do.

Of course, the key to all this is your content–if it sucks, you won’t get hired. Make it shine and see what happens.

The Super Affiliate Handbook

super-affiliate-marketingThere are plenty of guides out there, including this one by Rosalind Gardner, that explain the ins and outs of affiliate marketing and how to make it work for you. Many people get very excited after reading books like The Super Affiliate Handbook: How I Made $436, 797 In One Year Selling Other People’s Stuff Online.

There’s just one teeny little problem–not with Gardner’s book, but with the people who read it and get over-excited. Bloggers who think they can throw up a few posts and a few subsequent affiliate links and turn a profit tend to forget that you have to have an audience in order to get the clicks. And since most affiliate programs don’t pay you by the click, but rather by the purchase, that equation gets a little more challenging.

The key to a successful affiliate program on a blog or website? Focus. Decide what you want to do and stick to it. If you want to supplement a blog with some affiliate income, there are strategies and techniques you can use specific Continue reading The Super Affiliate Handbook