4 Steps to Making Money from Blogging

By SG Web Reviews (guest contributor)

In this post I will talk about how you can make a decent amount of money from your blog. Bear in mind that the contents of this article is solely based on my personal experience. It may not be the only way of making money from blogging. After all, I am not a full time professional blogger and my main source of income is not derived from blogging. So if there are better alternatives, do feel free to share.

1. Have a passion for blogging

There are many people who think they can make a living through full time blogging. In reality, this is very difficult to achieve. True, you probably can make a few hundred or thousand dollars here and there from affiliate marketing or sponsorships. But most of the time, there might be negligible profit or even no income at all.

Over the years, I have seen so many local blogs that fizzle out from the blogging scene after a just a few months. I suppose most of them gave up blogging after realizing that it is unable to put food on the table daily. So if you want to make a career blogging, your first priority should not be in making money from it. Rather, you must first have the passion for sharing things on your blog. The money will come in after you have built up a high amount of traffic and an established reputation.

2. Develop rich content

The only way to build up a sizable number of followers is to have a content-driven blog. You need to update your blog frequently with rich and original material. This may require a lot of time and energy, especially if you are writing articles on a very specialized topic.

For me, I am often guilty of not being able to post as frequently as I like to due to work and family commitments. There are local bloggers out there who can blog full time and update their blogs frequently. Some of them write very long articles, some just publish short editorials with links to other web pages. It all depends on individual preference. Personally, I don’t set a target on the length of my articles, but my principle is to ensure that my readers learn something from reading them. I try to make sure that the key messages are brought across to my readers.

However, I do admit that developing a content rich blog is a huge challenge for every blogger as often you are not just relating events that take place in your life. Sometimes, you need to do background research and back up your statements. Otherwise, you will lose credibility.

3. Increase blog traffic

The presence of more ‘eyeballs’ on a blog is the key for it to be considered successful. In general, there is no shortcut to increase traffic on your blog. The only way is to post articles as frequently as you can. Generally, you can see results after one to two years if you post quality articles twice a week.

For a start, you may want to exchange links with fellow bloggers who share the same topic as yours. Most bloggers would be happy to exchange links with you. Alternatively, do provide an avenue for readers to subscribe to your blog posts. Most importantly, engage in discussions on other blogs or forums. Over time, after you build up your reputation, people will visit your blog.

Rome was not built in a day. You must have patience and put in effort to nurture and grow your blog. Blogging is a window to your soul and it reflects your thoughts and what kind of person you really are. You will not have a fan base by posting outrageous remarks in other blogs or forums.

4. Move towards marketing

If you have a blog that has high traffic, you are in a good position to market your blog. Chances are, you might even be approached by companies interested in marketing their products through your blog.

This has happened to me and I have accepted quite a few assignments over the last few years. Most of these assignments provide in-kind rewards, such as books or free tickets to investment seminars. I accept these offers because in return for helping these companies promote their products or services in my blog, I also glean some financial knowledge from them. I am also able to share the things that I learned with my readers. So it’s a win-win situation.

Moving forward, I hope that more Singaporean companies recognize blogs as an effective medium to market their products or services. In-kind rewards are great but I still think that most bloggers prefer monetary rewards.

By guest contributor SG Web Reviews, a Singapore blog on business ideas. Posted via www.MoneyMatters.sg, your guide on how to make more money, save smarter, invest intelligently, and enjoy your money like a pro. Click here to get our free report on what you must know about financial freedom.

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