Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing has consistently proven itself as one of the easiest ways to make money online. Simply put, affiliate marketing is a system in which an affiliate (in this case, you) can make money by trying to sell another person’s products online using your blog. Each time you help make a sale, you will get a commission.
This is very attractive for many companies since they do not need to make an effort to market their products since their affiliates do the marketing for them. In addition to this, they only need to pay their affiliate every time they make a sale so this is a very cost effective solution as well.
There are many affiliate marketing programs out there and you can easily sign up free of charge. However, you will need to choose which products you plan to market wisely. This is where your blog comes in. Pick products that are closely related to your chosen niche market.
This way, you can maximize your chances of making a sale since chances are, the people who visit your blog will also be interested in the products that you are trying to market. It also goes without saying that the more traffic your blog gets, the more money you can earn from affiliate marketing.
When choosing an affiliate marketing program, you will also need to take a close look at the commission being offered. Commissions can range from as low as 3% or as high as 90% depending on the program as well as the products you have chosen to use. If you have chosen to market low value, fast selling items, then the commission you will get will be pretty low.
However, you can still make a lot of revenues by using volume to your advantage. Conversely, expensive and slow moving items will offer higher commissions but chances are, you will only get to sell a few of these items per day. Choose whichever option you think suits your blog the best.
Google Adsense And Other Similar Services
When Google’s Adsense first came out, it changed the way people made money online. When push comes to shove, Adsense was and still is one of the most profitable ways of monetizing websites. When used properly, people can make a considerable amount of money with Adsense and in some cases; it could help people earn more money than they could with a full time job.
If this is the first time that you have heard of Adsense, then a short introduction is in order. Adsense is simply a system that was introduced by Google wherein site ownerscan make money by using advertisements on their sites. If you choose to enroll in Adsense, then you can allow Google to post different types of ads on your website.
These ads include text, images as well as video advertisements. When people who visit your site click on one of the ads, you can earn money. If you have thousands of people visiting your blog every day, then this can quickly add up to a lot of revenue.
The ads that Google will post on your site will depend on what your visitors are searching for. This means that Google is able to intelligently provide netizens with ads related to what they search for often. This significantly improves the chances that people will click on the ads.
The system works on a commission basis so people who click on the ads need to purchase something in order for you to get a commission on their purchases. If you want to maximize your profits from Adsense, you will need traffic, a lot of it. That might seem like a daunting task but it will be discussed in detail in Chapter 6.
While Adsense is certainly the most popular option out there, there are many other alternatives as well. Here are some of the most well-known alternatives.
Adbrite
Adbrite is one of the best options for people running non-English based blogs. One ofthe best things about Adbrite is that they have a very flexible payment scheme. While the default payout amount is $100, you can change it to $5.00 or higher. Once you reach your predetermined payout amount, you can get paid.
As with most reliable Ad based programs, only sites with high quality content are eligible to join Adbrite. In addition to that, signing up is a breeze and you can do it for free.
Bidvertiser
Bidvertiser is another reputable pay-per-click network that you can join. Bidvertiser differs from other similar networks in that the ads they post can be more niche specific. People who advertise using Bidvertiser also have more control over which sites they want to use for their ads. This is one of the reasons why having a reputable and popular site is a plus.
The more popular your site is, the more attractive it will be for prospective advertisers that use Bidvertiser. Bidvertiser uses Paypal so you will need a Paypal account to get paid. You can also get paid every time your account accumulates a minimum amount of $50. You can expect payment within 10 to 15 days.
Chitika
Chitika is another top contender poised to take on Google’s Adsense program. This is one of the most popular alternatives out there and they have already reached over 2 billion impressions. If you think that is impressive, they have already posted ads in over 100,000 websites.
Chitika is also a very attractive option for ad publishers since they have a wide range of products available like Owna, which allows publishers to show off their products in novel ways.
They also offer a custom shopping portal like ShopLinc as well as many other high quality services. In addition to this, Chitika regularly releases new features to further enhance their already broad portfolio of services.
Infolinks
Infolinks is another good alternative for Adsense. However, many people are turned off by the low cost per click earnings. In addition to this, this is not a good option if you are relying on international traffic. If most of your traffic comes from the US, however, this can be an attractive option.
Infolinks uses a color coded system for their ads. You can easily change the ad colors to make them blend into your blog more naturally. Another advantage is that you can choose when and where the ads will appear on your blog.
Pocket Cents
Pocket Cents is a relatively new service compared to the other options discussed in this chapter. However, they have been making a lot of progress in terms of catching up with their competition.
More and more people are considering Pocket Cents dew to the ease in which people can access the services as well as the speed at which you can start earning money. For advertisers, this is also an attractive option since they offer more affordable terms.
Pocket Cent ads are also geared at targeting specific people using their geographical locations while using industry specific ads. Another advantage is that unlike, Adsense, you do not need to maintain a minimum balance. There are also no hidden charges so advertisers get exactly what they pay for.
Kontera
Kontera is another advertising network that has been getting a lot of positive reviews. They are known for using innovative technologies that involve proprietary algorithms and mechanisms that make their ads more effective. As a testament to Kontera’s popularity, their adds can be found in a significant number of the top highest websites on the Internet in terms of traffic.
Clicksor
Clicksor is a Ontario based advertising network that was founded back in the year 1999. They have been around for a long time and they have built a reputation for reliability and profitability. It is also of of the highest ranked advertising networks in the world.
They offer flexible payment options with a minimum pay-out of $50. If you are interested in advertising, the minimum charge for their services is $20 but it can go up depending on your needs.
Exit Junction
Exit Junction is certainly one of the most versatile advertising networks out there. This is due to the fact that the methods that they use are compatible with many other advertising networks out there. This makes this company a convenient choice for people also using the services of other ad networks. Compared to Adsense where the minimum payout is $100, Exit Junction offers a minimum payout of $25
Dynamic Oxygen
Compared to the other advertising networks discussed here, Dynamic Oxygen is relatively new to the game. However, they have quickly proven themselves as a valid contender with their profitable ads and their no-nonsense services.
Since this company caters to many types of sites both large and small, newer entrants actually have a shot at earning some money with Dynamic Oxygen.
Minimum payout is at $50 and you have the freedom of getting paid with checks, wiretransfers or Paypal depending on which option is convenient for you.
Adbull
Unlike other advertising networks, signing up with Adbull is a very straightforward process and accounts are approved immediately. This makes it a very attractive option for smaller and newer sites. They offer click through rates ranging from 3% to 5%.
Selling PLR Products
In the earlier chapters, using PLR products to help generate content for your blog was discussed. This is a great way of regularly coming up with high quality content for your blog. However, you can also make money by making and selling PLR products for your blog. This can range from PLR articles, PLR eBooks and PLR videos.
If you have a talent for writing or making great videos, then you should seriously consider selling PLR products as a way to generate higher revenues from your blog. You can easily use your blog as an online store to sell these products.
While there are numerous ways of selling PLR products online, using your own blog to market your products is still the most profitable option. If you choose to use affiliate marketing to sell your products, your profit margins will decrease since you will have to pay other people to market your products for you. If you choose to sell them yourself however, you can earn a lot more money.
When creating PLR content to sell, there are a number of options you can opt for. If you have the skills as well as the time for it, then by all means make the content yourself. If you are short on time, then you can always hire somebody else to do it for you.
These days, there are many freelancers on the Internet willing to create PLR content for you for reasonable prices. Even after paying a ghostwriter to make the content for you, you can still turn in a good profit.
When deciding on what PLR products to make, you will need to make sure that the products you make are closely related to your chosen niche market. Since your blog already targets a specific niche, then your PLR products will have to follow suit.
Building an Email List
If you want to make money from your blog using methods like affiliate marketing or selling PLR products, then you will need to build an extensive email list. Most, if not all, email services provide a feature that can allow you to send regular email newsletter to people who subscribe to your newsletter. This is a great way of letting people know that you have something new happening on your blog.
In addition to this, you can also use newsletters as constant reminders for people of what you are already offering on your blog. Needless to say, the more people you have on your email list, the higher your chances of turning in a food profit at the end of the day.
To get people to sign up for your newsletter, you will need to place a sign-up form in a conspicuous area on your blog. Make sure that the form is easily visible to encourage people to join.
In addition to this, you an also use a pop up window that can prompt visitors to sign up for your newsletter. It also pays to have more than one sign up form on your blog. Place a number of sign up forms in places where people are sure to see them.
Having great content makes it easier to convince people to sign up for your newsletter since they can be updated when you post new content that they can peruse at their own leisure. You can also give them incentives when they join your newsletter such as free PLR products or access to premium videos that you can post in a member’s only section of your blog.
You should also encourage your subscribers to recommend your blog to their friends and relatives. This way, you can get even more people to join your newsletter.
Taking Advantage of CPA
If you have never heard of CPA before, then it is high time that you did. CPA can change the way you make money from your blog. Simply put, CPA stands for Cost-Per-Action. This means that when a visitor to your blog performs a certain action, you can get paid every time that action is performed.
Most of the time, this involves filling up certain forms or answering short surveys. Companies will pay you for this since this is a great way of gathering market research data that they can use to improve their services. These forms or surveys are generally short and easy to accomplish so encouraging your visitors to complete these actions isn’t that difficult.
However, signing up for a CPA program can be a bit difficult. First of all, you need to have an established blog that gets a considerable amount of traffic in order to even be considered. If you have just started your blog, then give yourself some time to build up your blog’s popularity before signing up.
This can save you from a lot of frustration and disappointment. When the time comes that you are confident enough regarding your blog’s capabilities and popularity, then you can apply for a CPA program.
Some of the more popular CPA networks include AffiliateBot, PeerFly, Hydra, SHAREASALE and Neverblue.
