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Last night I was chatting with a blogger who was feeling completely overwhelmed with their goal of making a living from blogging.
I asked them how much they wanted to make from blogging.
They responded that they wanted to be a full time blogger.
I pushed them for a figure – what does ‘full time’ mean for you?
They thought for a moment and said that they could live off $30,000 USD a year (note: they wouldn’t have minded earning more but would be able to quit their current job at this kind of rate).
$30,000 a year sounds like a lot to make from a blog – especially when you’re starting out and are yet to make a dollar. To this blogger it seemed so overwhelming that she had almost convinced herself that it was not possible. Advice for Becoming a Full Time Blogger
My response was threefold: 1. Don’t Give Up Your Day Job…. Yet
It is possible to make $30,000 a year blogging, but it’s unlikely to happen over night. Keep your feet on the ground and your expectations reasonable. IF it happens (and there are no guarantees) it is almost certainly going to take some time. 2. Be Specific
Saying that you want to be full time as a blogger is a great goal – but it’s not really specific enough. This is why I wanted the blogger I was chatting with to name a figure. For her full time was $30,000 – for others it could be more or less – the amount is not the point, the point is that you need something more concrete to work towards so that you’re able to measure where you’re at.
For me when I decided I want to go full time as a blogger I decided that I wanted to aim for $50,000 (Aussie Dollars) in a year as the bench mark (at that time $50,000 was around 36,000 USD). That’s around what I would have been earning in my current main job if I had been doing that full time (I was actually working a number of part time jobs at the time as well as studying part time).
Knowing what I was aiming for helped me in a number of ways when it came to getting to that goal. 3. Break it down into something more Achievable
$30,000 USD still sounds big when you’re a new blogger – and in some ways it is. However there are different ways of thinking about that figure. Lets break it down in the way that I used to look at my target.
* $30,000 a year = $576.92 per week * $30,000 a year = $82.19 a day * $30,000 a year = $3.42 an hour
We could break it down on a monthly or on a minute by minute basis if we wanted to (in fact I did do it by minute from time to time for fun) – but the exercise is really about helping you to see that perhaps your big goal is a little more achievable if you are to break it down. Making $82.19 somehow seems a little bit easier to me than making $30,000 (or is that just me?).
OK – the other way that I used to break down my goal that I found really helpful to me was to do it based upon what I need to achieve to meet that target. For me I would usually look at the daily figure – in this case $82.19. What do I need to do to make $82.19 a day ($30,000 a year)?
Well there’s a number of ways that much. Lets look at a few:
* CPC Ads – lets say we’re running mainly AdSense on our blog and that the average click is paying 5 cents. That equates to 1643 clicks on AdSense ads (note: AdSense also runs CPM ads so it’s not quite as simple as saying you need 1643 clicks… but to keep this simple lets just go with that). * CPM Ads – lets say that we’re running CPM ads on our blog and we’re being paid $2 CPM per ad unit and we had 3 ads on each page (which is effectively $6 CPM per page). This would mean we’d need 13,000 page impressions. * Monthly Sponsorships – one way to sell ads directly to advertisers is to sell ads on a month by month basis as a sponsorship. To make $30k in a year you need to sell $2500 a month in ads. You might have 6 ad spots on your blog so this is 6 advertisers at $416.66 per advertiser per month. * Low Commission Affiliate Products – Lets say we were promoting affiliate products from a site like Amazon and your commissions were on average about 40 cents per sale. To earn $82.19 you’d need to sell $205 products. * High Commission Affiliate Products – In this case you might be promoting ebooks and earning $8 a copy (that’s what you’d earn selling my 31DBBB ebook per commission). The math is simple on this one – you’d had to sell around 10 e-books a day. * Really Big Commission Affiliate Products – of course e-books are not the biggest product out there to promote – there are products like training courses where you can earn hundreds per sale. Lets take one that might pay out $300 for a yearly membership on a bigger product. In this case you need to sell 8 of these per month. * Selling Your Own E-book – got your own product, perhaps an e-book, to sell from your blog? At $19.95 a sale you need to sell just over 4 of these a day. You can do the sums on cheaper or more expensive products.
Of course there are many many other ways to make money from blogs. Subscriptions, donations, paid reviews, selling yourself as a consultant….. etc. You can do the sums for yourself on your own model.
I know that some of the above figures still sound out of reach for bloggers – 1643 clicks on your AdSense ads sounds massive to a new blogger…. and it is – but dokeep in mind that you can combine some of the above (in fact I’d recommend you diversify your income).
You might run 2 ad networks on your site, promote Amazon affiliates, sell your own e-book and promote someone’s membership course.
Looking back on my own figures for around the time when I hit my $50,000 AUD (around $100 USD a day) goal and for me at that time my income mix looked a like this (going from memory here):
* AdSense: $35 * Chitika: $20 * Private Ad Sales: $20 * Amazon: $15 * Other Affiliate Commissions: $10
Note: I didn’t achieve this milestone until I’d been blogging for over 2 years (I blogged for the first year without trying to make money).
This didn’t happen over night but I really found that breaking things down into more bite sized pieces helped me to stay motivated but also helped me to identify what I needed to work on in order to reach my goals (and for me to quite my day job).
Again – don’t quit your day job yet (in fact you may not want to quit it even when you reach your goal – it can be good to have a back up plan) but do work hard at being specific about your blogging goals and attempt to break it down in a way that helps you move towards them.
1. Use catchy titles: As I subscribe to more and more webfeeds, I tend to flicks through content a lot faster. Short, catchy, tabloid-style titles grab potential readers attention and will ensure that your posts have a better chance of being read.
2. Be unique: One of my favourite blogs is Gaping Void. Hugh MacLeod’s cartoons are great and instantly grab my attention. Try to make some aspect of your blog unique. for example, I now open each post with a quote which tends to reflect the entry.
3. Make sure to credit your sources: Don’t plagerise! Never use someone else’s content without crediting them. You can refer to them in your entry and offer your own opinion on the story rather than be a copycat.
4. Think before you post: Blogging isn’t a race, so take your time . The majority of my posts (including this one!) are prepared at the weekend, giving me plenty of time to think over them before posting. You don’t want to post something that you’ll end up regretting.
5. Stay on topic: Your blog’s content is key. Like Ed says ‘good, interesting blogs get read, boring rants on irrelevant topics don’t’ So if your blog is about Soccer, I don’t expect to be reading about Tennis on it often.
6. Link, it’s polite: If you read something interesting online and tell your readers about it, then post a link to what you’re talking about. It’s annoying to read about something and then have to Google it, instead of simply clicking a link to it.
7. Be conversational in tone: Nobody wants to be bored to death reading your blog and you should also try to attract readers who might not be familiar with the subject you are covering. Some really intelligent people have turned me off with their academic style of writing. You’re supposed to be having a conversation not talking down to people.
8. Respond to comments: It’s great to see that you’re blogging, but if you don’t respond to comments on your blog readers will tend to get annoyed and may unsubscribe. Sometimes it’s even nice to send the person who left the comment an email, IM them or havea real life conversation with them via Skype. When I left a comment on Steve Rubel’s blog congratulating him on his marraige I was surprised to get an email from him saying thanks. What a nice touch! Unfortunately he doesn’t seem to be so quick to reply to comments when people criticise him.
9. When to post: The best time to post I find is the morning when people will be going through their subscriptions. I tend not to blog on weekends anymore because people seem to check their Webfeed/RSS reader during typical work hours on Monday to Friday. People will be able to give your post more attention.
10. Be controversial: Don’t be a sheep, stand out and voice your own opinion. Who cares if nobody agrees with you? As long as you believe in what you’re saying then don’t be afraid to disagree. people are always inclined to get two sides of a story. Mind you, don’t push it otherwise you’ll be seen as someone who just likes to brew trouble.
11. Blogging is not email: A blog might be an online journal, but that doesn’t mean you have to start each post with Dear Diary. The same applies for Hi, Hello World, etc. There’s no need to sign off either, your name will be listed at the bottom of your post anyway.
12. Assuming makes an ass out of u and me: Don’t assume readers are familiar with your product/service/pastime. I had to delete my subscription to a PR blog the other day because the author insists on referring to some model that I am completely unfamiliar with. I got the sense that he was trying to sell me something I wasn’t going to buy into.
1. Design the icon and save it as png (ico is preferred, but it's harder to upload). The preferred resolution is 16x16, but i saved mine at 22x22 for greater quality, and it seems it works :) (i think 36x36 is the limit)
2. Upload the icon somewhere (photobucket, pages.google.com), and copy the link
3. Go to Edit HTML under the Template tab in your blog's dashboard
4. Find the follwowing line (Ctrl+f) :
5. Insert this code below it: (replace "URL of your icon file" with the link you've copied at step 2)
6. Save the template
In order to see the change, close your page, delete the temporary internet files from your browser and reopen your page
Frequently updating your blog with useful content is the first step to building your blog’s audience. The content you write is what will keep readers coming back for more. Make sure you have something meaningful to say to them and say it often to maintain their interest and keep them loyal.
Furthermore, post frequently to increase the number of chances you have for your blog’s content to be noticed by search engines such as Google or Technorati.
Google ReaderUse Google’s web-based blog reader to keep up with blogs and news.reader.google.com
2. Submit Your Blog to Search Engines
Get on the radar screen for the popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo! by submitting your blog’s URL to them. Most search engines provide a ‘Submit’ link (or something similar) to notify the search engine of your new blog, so those search engines will crawl it and include your pages in their results.
It’s important to understand that simply submitting your blog to search engines doesn’t mean your pages will appear at the top of a Google search results screen, but at least your blog will be included and will have the chance of being picked up by a search engine.
3. Use and Update Your Blogroll
By adding links to sites you like in your blogroll, the owners of those blogs will find your blog and will be likely to add a reciprocal link in their blogrolls. It’s an easy way to get the link to your blog in front of many readers on other blogs. The hope is that some of those readers will click on the link to your blog on the other blogs’ blogrolls and find your content interesting and enjoyable turning them into loyal readers.
4. Harness the Power of Comments
Commenting is a simple and essential tool to increase your blog’s traffic. First, respond to comments left on your blog to show your readers that you value their opinions and draw them into a two-way conversation. This will increase reader loyalty.
Second, leave comments on other blogs to drive new traffic. Make sure you leave your blog’s URL in your comment, so you create a link back to your own blog. Many people will read the comments left on a blog post. If they read a particularly interesting comment, they are highly likely to click on the link to visit the commentor’s website. It’s important to make sure you leave meaningful comments that are likely to invite people to click on your link to read more.
5. Syndicate Your Blog’s Content with an RSS Feed
Setting up an RSS feed button on your blog makes it easy for your loyal readers to not just read your blog but also know when you publish new content.
6. Use Links and Trackbacks
Links are one of the most powerful parts of your blog. Not only are links noticed by search engines, but they also act as a tap on the shoulder to other bloggers who can easily identify who is linking to their sites. Linking helps to get you noticed by other bloggers who are likely to investigate the sites that are linking to them. This may lead them to become new readers of your blog or to add links to your blog from theirs.
You can take links to other blogs a step further by leaving a trackback on the other blog to let them know you’ve linked to them. Blogs that allow trackbacks will include a link back to your blog in the comments section of the post that you originally linked to. People do click on trackback links!
7. Tag Your Posts
It takes a few extra seconds to add tags to each of your blog posts, but it’s worth the time in terms of the additional traffic tags can drive to your blog. Tags (like links) are easily noticed by search engines. They’re also key to helping readers find your blog when they perform searches on popular blog search engines such as Technorati.
8. Submit Your Posts to Social Bookmarking Sites
Taking the time to submit your best posts to social bookmarking sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, Reddit and more can be a simple way to quickly boost traffic to your blog.
9. Remember Search Engine Optimization
When you write your blog posts and pages, remember to optimize your pages for search engines to find them. Include relevant keywords and links but don’t overload your posts with too many relevant keywords or completely irrelevant keywords. Doing so can be considered spamming and could have negative results such as your blog being removed from Google’s search entirely.
10. Don’t Forget Images
Images don’t just make your blog look pretty, they also help people find you in search engine listings. People often use the image search options offered by Google, Yahoo! and other search engines, and naming your images with search engine optimization in mind can easily boost your traffic.
11. Consider Guest Blogging
Guest blogging can be done when you write a guest post on another blogger’s blog or when another blogger writes a guest post on your blog. Both methods are likely to increase traffic as your blog will be exposed to the other blogger’s audience. Many of the other blogger’s readers will visit your blog to see what you have to say.
12. Join Forums, Web Rings or Online Groups
Find online forums, web rings, groups or social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn where you can share ideas and ask questions of like-minded individuals. Add a link to your blog in your signature line or profile, so each time you post on a forum or participate in another online network, you’re indirectly promoting your blog. Chances are many people will click on that link to learn more about you.
13. Promote Outside Your Blog
Promoting your blog shouldn’t stop when you step outside the blogosphere. Add your blog’s URL to your email signature and business cards. Talk about it in offline conversations. It’s important to get your name and your blog’s URL noticed offline, too.
14. Nominate Yourself and Other Blogs for Blog Awards
There are a number of blog awards given out throughout the year. Nominating yourself and other blogs and bloggers can draw attention to your blog and drive traffic to it.
15. Don’t Be Shy The most important part of the blogosphere is its community and much of your success as a blogger will be tied to your willingness to network with that community. Don’t be afraid to ask questions, join conversations or just say hi and introduce yourself. Don’t sit back and hope the online world will find you. Speak out and get yourself noticed. Let the blogosphere know you’ve arrived and have something to say!
What every blog needs is one way non reciprocal backlinks. Free article submissions to directories and content providers, article marketing, submissions of press releases and other forms of content distribution are a means of getting them.
If you write quality content other people will want to link to you, so if you want to put your writing skills to work to promote your blog this article will interest you.
Free articles, free web content, and free article feeds are submitted to a network of quality registered authors;
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ArticlesBase now offers custom articles written for you by expert authors. While free articles certainly serve their purpose of giving you content for your website, it’s widely acknowledged that there is nothing better than original content for both the search engines to improve your ranking and indeed your site visitors.
Our professional team of Article Writers can write on any topic you desire and more importantly, you own all copyrights to the articles that you purchase.
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ContentDesk.com We focus on bringing traffic from several different sources instead of just focusing on search engines. We believe (and we have proven) that search engine rankings will come by using consistent and long-term strategies to build the exposure of your site.
ContentDesk.com is launching a blog network called the CDBlog Network. We are looking for writers who want to write for us on one of many different topics. We pay a beginning stipend (up to $800 per month depending on experience) to start, with the potential of a full-time, lucrative income for writers, who help us take their blog to the top of a market niche. We handle all the set up, domain registration and site build, all the technical issues and all the marketing.
ExcellentGuide.com/article ExcellentGuide.com offers free quality resources for users to post, read, view, and browse articles and videos posted by the members of this Website. ExcellentGuide.com also features ‘Trusted Websites’ section that reflects a collection of useful websites that we recommend to the users. Besides, ‘Bookmarks’ section contains quick links to the most popular content on the Internet that the users recommend to the fellow users.
EzineArticles.com is a matching service — bringing real-world experts and ezine publishers together. Expert Authors & Writers are able to post their articles to be featured within the site. Our searchable database of hundreds of thousands of quality original articles allows email newsletter publishers hungry for fresh content to find articles that they can use for inclusion within their next newsletter (up to 25 articles per year per our Publisher TOS).
An article directory search engine and at the same time an article distribution service provider offering a very affordable marketing service online without sacrificing quality.
All articles we host are exposed to our very high search traffic, direct traffic and organic traffic.
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Our major properties include HostReview, PromotionWorld, DomainInformer, and a variety of other websites that cater to webmasters and online business owners. Our experienced staff, unique editorial features, and powerful free tools make the DevStart Network the Webmaster’s Homepage.
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SearchWarp is a writers’ community. A writers’ community is a place where people write for passion, read for entertainment & understanding and discuss for useful interaction. If your purpose for submitting an article to SearchWarp falls outside of this (such as for commercial or profit purposes) SearchWarp might not be the place for you.
Provides informative, quality Self Improvement and Natural Health information ranging from Goal Setting and Stress Management to Natural Health and Alternative Medicine.
Our network is composed of four websites, SelfGrowth.com, NaturalHealthWeb.com, SelfImprovementNewsletters.com and NaturalHealthNewsletters.com.
What good is having a web site if nobody can find it?
Search marketing can be the most cost effective marketing a company can do. The Internet has replaced the Yellow Pages as the search method of choice for most Americans. When someone wants to find a business, product, or service they go online to a search engine.
Our marketing services partnership with Google means that we are prepared to work with all advertisers no matter the size -- you don't have to have a huge budget to take advantage of Pay-Per-Click marketing, some of our customers have gotten more business than they could handle for less than $30 a day. Put the Power of MDI and Google behind your search engine marketing strategy. Don't hesitate, this could be the best decision you ever made.
Search marketing has many advantages over traditional marketing, such as:
budget flexibility -- redefine, change or pause your campaign anytime you want without a long term commitment
pay for clicks to your web site and set the price you are willing to pay for a click
run concurrent campaigns with different budgets and goals
pay for your ads to be seen by a set number of viewers on web sites and set the price you are willing to pay for the views
regional targeting down to the city or ZIP code, or even exclude cities that you don't want
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track sales and conversions to constantly improve your marketing ROI
stop, start, pause or cancel at any time!(like when you have too many leads
Who is your biggest fan?
The power of "word-of-mouth" has long been the driving force behind many small businesses. Today, word-of-mouth is spread online through tools such as Facebook.
All web sites we create are designed to be integrated directly with Facebook so your potential "Fans" can read updates from your Facebook business page directly from your website. We also offer marketing consultations designed to train our customers on how to use Facebook to gain maximum effectiveness including Facebook Ads Placement, Facebook Page Setup and visitor growth.
With Facebook your business can:
Use the power of social networking to expand your potential business leads.
Update your customers on current business specials, deals or whatever happens to be on your mind.
Target advertisements to a very granular market including Age, Sex, Geography and Language
Grow your business through the online "word-of-mouth" and leverage friends and business partners to spread your message.
You can blog almost anything that you want! Blog about your travels, blog about your friends or blog just about anything that you encounter in your everyday life.
Simply register by filling up the sign up form below to get started...
Our marketing services partnership with Google means that we are prepared to work with all advertisers no matter the size -- you don't have to have a huge budget to take advantage of Pay-Per-Click marketing, some of our customers have gotten more business than they could handle for less than $30 a day. Put the Power of MDI and Google behind your search engine marketing strategy. Don't hesitate, this could be the best decision you ever made.
All web sites we create are designed to be integrated directly with Facebook so your potential "Fans" can read updates from your Facebook business page directly from your website. We also offer marketing consultations designed to train our customers on how to use Facebook to gain maximum effectiveness including Facebook Ads Placement, Facebook Page Setup and visitor growth.