Many bloggers crash and burn when it comes to actually making money with their blog. They might do great with design, opt-in forms, and even publish great content - but they freeze up when it comes to asking for the credit card.
You see, a lot of bloggers are afraid.
When you ask for someone to spend money with you, your relationship with that person escalates like crazy. It's like finally telling your girlfriend "I love you" or having them meet the padres.
When you sell people something, you have to know that it's great stuff, or you're not going to sell it wholeheartedly (assuming you're not a psychopath detached from feeling). People are touchy when it comes to money - if they don't get their whole value, they'll ask for refunds, leave bad reviews, etc.
In other words, selling stuff is a BIG deal!
Anyway, I'll give you a few blog monetization tips that I've found to be some of the most effective!
1. Low dollar Ebook (around $17)
This is a great one to cut your teeth on - you don't have the pressure of doing anything live. If you want to take months to really fine-tune your content, no one's stopping you!
2. Blog Audits
Blog audits are easy to run. All you need to do is have a couple of PDF's ready to go, and then you fill in the info with your clients' info and send it back to them.
Clearly, you need a little experience before you can command a price for this service. But, all you need is a page on your blog and a PayPal button.
3. Blog Writing Service
This one works great for me because I like to write and consider it one of my strengths. I'm able to charge quite a bit because I deliver everything I say I will.
It's another super-easy one to implement - little sales page, and a PayPal button!
4. Blog Setup Service
The secret to making money on the Internet really isn't a secret. All you gotta do is learn a skill that people need, and charge for it!
I don't set up any blogs - my wife does. But, she's self-taught with Wordpress, Photoshop, FTP, and all the other jazz you need to build a blog. She watched YouTube videos for about a week, and she's made several thousand dollars in blog sales. Nice.
5. Charge for Webinars
Personally, I've never done this one. However, I once heard Mark Hoverson say something that changed my business.
He said that if he were to start over, the one thing he would do differently would be to charge people for stuff from the very beginning.
The example he used was that he once charged $10 for a webinar where he taught how to set up a quick website. He earned some cash, but even more importantly, he began to build a customer base.
6. Affiliate Sales
Selling affiliate products doesn't have to be a drawn-out event with lots of fanfare.
Most of my affiliate sales have come when I sell people other products, or I mention them in posts as an aside. I don't write long sales pages or emails promoting affiliate stuff, by sometimes I'll stick a link in a post as a quick recommendation.
Most affiliate sales are small, but they definitely add up!
7. Newsletter with Ads
A lot of Internet Marketers use this is as their main source of revenue! Once you've built up a fairly substantial email list, you can send out little ads in your newsletters - and score big bucks.
8. 15 Minute Coaching Through Fiverr.com
This is one of the more ingenious marketing strategies that I've ever seen.
Fiverr.com is a site that lets you offer products or services, but you can only charge $5 for it. I knew a lady that was trying to build her network marketing team. She would offer 15 minute MLM coaching for $5.
Now $5 isn't a ton, and it only pans out to $20/hour (clearly not gonna make you rich).
However, with that consulting session, she pocketed some cash, got a new lead (and a super-high quality one willing to pay), and was able to build a personal relationship while displaying her expertise.
When I saw that I thought, "She's getting leads to PAY HER $5!"
9. Normal Consulting
There are two reasons that consulting on your site is valuable.
1. Pocket some dollar bills!
2. Establish your value
If I say that my consulting costs $149 per hour, every reader will think I'm doing awesome to command that price! You look like an expert immediately.
At the beginning, I suggest establishing a price higher than you think you can actually get - and then work to make yourself valuable enough to obtain clients at that price.
10. Animoto
This strategy is a little wacky and out there - I've never seen anyone else use this (so no competition, right?).
Animoto is a service that lets you make professional videos by adding images and text.
I might not have much use in my "teach others how to make money blogging" niche, but here's what some of you out there can do.
My wife loves animals. She was a vet tech, and even studied veterinary medicine in college.
She eventually wants to start a blog about her experiences and give people animal tips. She wants to use Animoto to create videos about people's pets and sell a bundle for around $39.99.
Cool, huh? It's super easy to do, and she has a great way to monetize her niche!
11. Continuity Program
This refers to any sort of program that requires a monthly payment - such as a mastermind group or premium content you don't offer elsewhere.
12. Sell Emails to List
Basically, you're giving people the chance to send a promotional email out to your list.
I've seen people make money doing this, but be EXTREMELY careful. Just because you realize you can make $200 per email doesn't mean you should send out 20 the next week!
If you're sending out more than 1 or 2 of these per week, you'll lose the responsiveness of the list that you've worked so hard to put together!
13. Live Course
Here's my long-term plan for my blog:
Down the road a bit, I'm planning on opening up an 8 week course where I host a live webinar each week. Every other week will be new training, and the next week will be question and answer.
I'll throw in bonuses like blog setups or blog audits.
Adapt that idea to your niche, and you can make oodles of money!
14. In-Person Conferences
Of course, this strategy is a LONG ways down the road, but it doesn't hurt to make it a goal of yours.
But really, being invited to be a guest speaker at a conference doesn't have to be a pipe dream years down the road. Try for it, make some connections, and you'll get there!
15. Google AdSense
I put this one last, because I think it's the worst idea of the 15. You've probably read all about it and how you need 17 gazillion visitors to make $10 per month.
My point of view is this:
If you're running a legitimate business getting thousands of visitors per month, you can use much smarter strategies that build a much larger income without muddying up your site with ads.
Just my 2 cents, but it is a blog monetization strategy.
Cameron Smith
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cameron_B_Smith
