Calling All Bloggers

[Jesella22]

I'd like to start a blog and although I would like it to be fun, I also want it to be lucrative. So my question is and I'm aiming to reach current bloggers (of all places lit, I know) if they have earned a substantial amount of money from blogging and if so, what are the best ways to market it?

Thanks

 

[xtinelauren1]

Finally! I subject I'm actually experienced in.

I run three blogs on tumblr, my main one and most popular currently has 8,975 followers. Mind you it's a niche blog, and it took almost three years to reach that amount, which considering what I blog about, isn't too shabby. I personally don't make money off of any of my blogs, but according to the bloggers I know who do try to make money off of tumblr(or wordpress, etc), ads are the way to go. Also once you start gaining popularity, tons of people have paypal links of on their homepages. It's tacky to me, but it works out well for some.

 

[Jesella22]

Lol glad to know you're familiar with the topic. Wasn't sure if anyone blogged on lit but I figured its worth a shot to look into.
Would love to check out your blogs and get an idea of a consistent running blog. I've done research on it and started coming up with some concepts, ideas, topics etc. but there's so many options. I'm not sure which route I want to take (whether to include vids, podcasts, purely blog, e books, obtain email subscribers). Have you considered monetizing your blogs? Also how long did it take for the bloggers that you know to obtain any lucrative success?

 

[Nastassia4Hire]

This is a very interesting thread. I had no idea people could make money by blogging.

 

[xtinelauren1]

Lol glad to know you're familiar with the topic. Wasn't sure if anyone blogged on lit but I figured its worth a shot to look into.
Would love to check out your blogs and get an idea of a consistent running blog. I've done research on it and started coming up with some concepts, ideas, topics etc. but there's so many options. I'm not sure which route I want to take (whether to include vids, podcasts, purely blog, e books, obtain email subscribers). Have you considered monetizing your blogs? Also how long did it take for the bloggers that you know to obtain any lucrative success?

The one I mentioned is my main blog and not listed, the other two in my sig are my side blogs. My main one is a combination of photos, actual blog posts, videos, interviews, quotes etc. I keep up with all of them and post on a pretty regular basis. The blogs I know of that have ads and have paypal links... It really depends on the popularity of your blog. I don't think they had ads from the get go, but once they realized they were getting a lot of traffic, that's when they added them. I used to use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people were on my blog, how many new visitors I was getting, where they were from, etc. Now I use Statcounter which is basically the same thing, but a whole lot easier to use.

 

[Jesella22]

The one I mentioned is my main blog and not listed, the other two in my sig are my side blogs. My main one is a combination of photos, actual blog posts, videos, interviews, quotes etc. I keep up with all of them and post on a pretty regular basis. The blogs I know of that have ads and have paypal links... It really depends on the popularity of your blog. I don't think they had ads from the get go, but once they realized they were getting a lot of traffic, that's when they added them. I used to use Google Analytics to keep track of how many people were on my blog, how many new visitors I was getting, where they were from, etc. Now I use Statcounter which is basically the same thing, but a whole lot easier to use.

Thanks for the follow up. Is there a link to follow to check to out your main blog?

 

[xtinelauren1]

Thanks for the follow up. Is there a link to follow to check to out your main blog?

I'll pm it to you.

 

[stickygirl]

I'll pm it to you.

Could you PM me as well please?

 

[WiLordCadus]

Blogs can also lead to great jobs. It's what got Me a dream job with a comic book company. Also not sure if this is the same thing you might be looking for but some bloggers add their or a personal Amazon wish list. Then if you get fans that grow to love you, they send you gifts off that list.

Best of luck!

 

[TossHerSalad]

I do online marketing and know several bloggers who do quite well. The biggest trick is getting an audience, which can take some time and effort.

Ads are the first way bloggers can make money. It doesn't add up unless you've got a very large audience, at least in the tens of thousands.

Another way is with affiliate marketing, where you are referring people to products, could be Amazon products (not a lot of money per sale, but something) or information products work too, with potentially nice commissions of even 50-75% of the item purchased. A good place top look for information products that may fit the topic of your blog, go over to www.clickbank.com and check out their marketplace. (There are many other marketplaces too, but Clickbank is a fabulous platform.)

You could even produce your own information products, and keep 100% of your earnings (after merchant fees, refunds, ect.) There are a lot of courses available to teach you how.

Still one more way is to get a large enough audience where you could get a corporate sponsor. This takes a VERY large audience to pull off, but I know people who have.

I'm sure there are other ways too... but these are ones I know that work.

One good way to get traffic to your blog faster is a good social media presence. There is a right way and a wrong way to do this, the right way is to build a community, like in Facebook, give REALLY good content, and links to your blog to go into the info deeper. Twitter can work too, the trick is DON'T GET PUSHY WITH "BUY MY SHIT" POSTS! (I hope you know what I mean by that...) I've always found online, it's best to lead with being helpful, helping people solve specific problems... and become their go-to source of info in your subject.

 

[silverwhisper]

jessella, the best ways to market a blog--of any kind--is social media + referrals. hands down.

if you're hoping to monetize: the people i know who actually make money blogging use wordpress, have their own domains, etc. but before you start figuring out your domain, build your presence. set up your editorial schedule, which in plain english means: figure out how often you'll blog, write up about a dozen or so blog entries before you publish your first one, and stick to your schedule come hell or high water. and your schedule probably needs to be at the very least once/week. the for-profit ones i know publish daily.

you don't mention if it's a general interest blog, adult blog, something else entirely, but those things may factor into what site you choose.

i've blogged for years now. none of mine are for-profit enterprises: they're just about self-expression. but i do know folks who are making money doing it, and marketing is important for a blog.

i hope you're really comfortable with social media and have/are willing to invest in building a significant presence there.

ed