As we all know, the Internet has spawned a huge new industry of journalists known as "bloggers" who daily write and publish opinions and news in every imaginable niche.
Web logs, or simply "blogs," give the author a public soapbox or microphone from which he/she can express, educate, instruct, inform, sell, comment, advertise, or do just about anything else that can be done on a regular web site.
Some authors of blogs have gathered quite an audience and engaged large crowds of daily viewers. Anytime a captive audience is involved, shrewd business minds come up with ways to monetize the experience.
Because blogging is so new, there has no yet been much written about "blogging for dollars" but that will soon change.
Here are the ways I have seen blogs attempting to generate income:
1. Through Google Adsense and other PPC advertising mediums. The blogger is able to serve pay per click ads on his blog site that are contextually related to the topic of the post. Google (or whomever) then pays the blogger a small fee (commission) every time a viewer clicks on one of the related ads.
2. Display and banner advertising. Some bloggers that are able to garner significant traffic to their site are able to charge a fee for the ads placed on the blog site. It's a simple strategy that regular web sites have used for years.
3. Direct selling of products and services. Like any other web site, a blog site can be used for selling goods and services to the viewers. A powerful technique for the blog author / product seller is to blog about a common problem and include in the post a recommended solution that has worked well for the author. "Oh, and by the way, the paid solution is available for purchase right now by clicking on this link."
4. Affiliate sales. Many bloggers include their own affiliate links (usually as text links) right within a blog post so that readers will have access to the products the blogger talks about. This is an effective strategy since the author is not making a "hard" sales pitch that alienates the reader. He is simply recommending a valuable resource to his readers.
5. Paid authorship. Some bloggers receive a writer's fee for every post they produce. Generally these "hired" guns are simply freelancers trying to earn a little money for their time and skill applied in writing. The blog may be part of a network of other bloggers in a niche or it could be a company owned property that is seeking to generate traffic to its business.
6. Freelancer contributions. A few bloggers are attempting to receive income in the form of donations by the readers that go right to the blogger via PayPal or another processor. There is not much documented evidence on the viability of this model, but it may be another income stream that can be added to the current strategies for revenue that some popular blogs are able to implement.
7. Membership blogs. Just as in a regular subscription web site, a blog can be locked behind closed doors. Members pay for the right to access the private information. They are charged a recurring monthly fee in exchange for a user name and password that gives them access to the blog.
I'm sure there are other income models that I have not seen yet. If you know any of them, why not post a comment here so we can add other strategies to the list?
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