Advertisers for your blog

Just wanted to let you know of some other ways to monetize your blog:


bidvertiser.com--this is a pay-per-click advertiser similar to Google Ads, but it allows companies to bid on how much they will pay per person who click on the ads on your site, and will always publish those that have bid the highest, so you get paid more. You also can approve/disapprove of each individual ad before it is displayed on your site. This is great, click the link in the right sidebar to check it out!

www.linkshare.com -- put ads on your site, you get paid by commission for sales generated by your readers

http://www.direct-link-ads.com/-- works the same way, by commission


Check out these sites and see if you like them! Soon, I will be posting about how to bring more traffic to your blog!

Sell your hobby on Etsy.com

Have you heard of Etsy.com? This is where you can sell your hand-made, unique designs online! If your hobby is sewing, crafts, or wood-working- you will want to try this website! You can feature your designs and sell them to customers who are specifically looking for hand-made treasures!
The website states: "We connect buyers with independent creators and shop owners to find the very best in handmade, vintage and supplies. When you sign up to be a seller, you’ll get your own easy-to-use online shop. You can customize it with a banner, fill out a profile and set your shop policies. "
You can also sell commercial and handmade crafting supplies, as well as vintage items (items at least 20 years old with vintage appeal).

If this fits your hobby, give it a try! It is a safe way to sell your items, and with no start-up! It is a great way to start a home-based business. You pay only $.20 to list your item for four months, and then a 3.5% commission when your item sells.
If you are a fan of Etsy.com, please post and let me know how you like it!

How to start a blog and make money doing what you love

My website is designed to bring you tips and ideas to monetize your hobby. These ideas can be applied to many different hobbies, so be creative!
In this troubled economy, I have come to learn the importance of having multiple streams of income. Multiple streams of income give you security, especially if one of your income-producers is cut.
That is why I started a blog a few months ago. I am a teacher, and decided to use what I am talented at, combined with my hobby of searching and finding tips and deals to create a blog as a way to earn money. It is a blog aimed at giving teachers tips, ideas, and great deals.

A blog is one of the BEST ways to monetize your hobby. Take what you love and are talented at, and start a blog!
The first step to starting a blog is to think of what you want to write about.

Some examples of blogs that can make you money:

• If you love gardening, start a gardening blog that gives tips, instructions and even coupons that you find for all things gardening.
• If you are a mechanic, start a blog about common car troubles and fixes.
• If you are an interior decorator, give tips and pictures of ideas for decorating, and include tips on saving money when decorating.

These are just a few ideas, the possibilites are endless! Next, I will give you some tips to really make your blog stand out:

• Your blog must be unique if it is going to make money! Search the current blogs out there and see if the blog you want to creat is already out there. If you find a ton of blogs already on that topic, (examples would be such topics as Freebies, Recipes, and Coupon blogs-of which there are hundreds) then you may want to choose another topic to write about.
• Do not narrow your blog too much or you will not get enough people to read it! For example, do not create a blog just on how best to grow hyacinths. Instead include all flower types.
• Post every day, or at least 3 times a week. When first starting out, you need to attract readers. People will stop coming to your website if they find that you do not post new material frequently.
• Post helpful and interesting posts. People want to learn and get great tips, not read stuff/junk they already know. You should consider your blog your business, that is if you want to earn money, so be professional and give your readers enough great information that they will want to keep coming back for more valuable insights.

Once you have the idea down, now you need to start up your own blog. There are several ways to do this. You can pay for a domain name and web hosting, or you can start a blog for free. If this is just a hobby (as the name of my blog suggests) then you will want to go with the free option. The following websites will allow you to create your own blog for free:

• www.Blogger.com
• www.Wordpress.com
• www.Myblogsite.com
• www.Today.com
• www.Twittermoms.com

If you decide to buy a website, and web hosting, you will pay a set fee for the website and then pay for web hosting per month.

Once you decide which one to go with, you can choose from their templates, or backgrounds. Or you can decide to find your own free template somewhere else. (This is what I did, to see my custom website click here.)

These sites are very user-friendly and you can set them up to your preference. Now you can start posting away!

Now, you may be asking, HOW DOES THIS MAKE ME MONEY?

There are many ways to monetize your blog. Of course, when you first start up, you need to focus not on the money aspect, but on gaining readership. If you have no readers, you will make no money! So focus on writing great posts, and getting the word out on your blog first. (I will post more ideas on this at a later time)

To make money, you can:

• Install GoogleAds. GoogleAds revenue is my biggest producer for me. I have a few blogs and use GoogleAds on all of them. Sign up for these at www.google.com/adsense. You can choose to customize the appearance of your ads, and you can even block certain ads that you may not want to have on your site. GoogleAds matches ads that are specific to your website, and when a reader clicks on one, Cha-Ching! YOU make money! It is super-easy! So if you have a gardening website, the Google Ads on your website will be gardening type ads, so your readers will be more prone to clicking them because it is something that interests them!
• Apply to and install TextLinkAds. Now this advertiser requires that you have a minimum amount of readership, so you will want to wait until your blog has grown before you apply here. Go to http://www.textlinkads.com/ to sign up when you think your blog is ready. This advertiser is also pay-per-click, just as GoogleAds is.
• Another way to make money is through Affiliate Programs. These programs pay you a commission each time one of your readers clicks on their ads and buys one of their products. Depending on the company, they pay between 15% and 75% commission, and you can choose the specific company that you want to advertise. Some examples of Affiliate Programs are: http://www.commisionjunction.com/, and http://www.clickbank.com/. I have personal experience with all of the above services and can personally recommend them. Certain companies such as Circuit City and Coupons.com have affiliate programs, if you are interested in these just go on their website and click "Affiliate Program" or click "Contact Us" and send them an email saying that you would like to advertise them on your website.
• You can start an Amazon store right on your website. This works just like an affiliate program, when someone click on the link and buys a product through Amazon.com, you get a commission.

There are many other ways to earn money through your website, which I will post on later.

I just wanted to get you started on using your hobby to make YOU money.

If you have questions about starting your own blog as a business, please comment, or email me and feel free to ask!

Welcome!

Welcome to my website for people who want to make a little extra money. You could be a teacher, mechanic, hairdresser, nurse, or a financial advisor. Anyone can make a little extra money doing what they are talented at, or what they enjoy!
Please comment on posts you find especially helpful!