How to Cash In on Blogs

Over the past year or so, more and more webmasters have been creating their own blogs (web-logs). If you don't already know, a blog is sort of an online diary which is updated at regular intervals by the author(s), and can be viewed by the public.

Blogs can have a wide variety of topics, including personal thoughts, news, sports, politics, technology, or virtually anything else you can think of. And like any other website, a blog can be used to make money.

The most popular way make money with your blog is to put some sort of pay-per-click text ads on it. Some companies that will pay you for doing this are Google Adsense (http://www.google.com/adsense) and BidClix (http://www.bidclix.com). Depending on the topic that you choose to write about, your ads might make anywhere from $0.05 to $1.00 per click.

To start publishing your own blog, visit Blogger.com, and to pick up some free traffic for it, check out BlogExplosion.com.

Should You Get A Blog?

A blog is a type of website. It allows the website owner to easily write messages that get posted to the site automatically, often in a journal or diary-like style. A particularly appealing thing about blogs is that your readers can comment back to your posts fairly easily, and a continuous stream of fresh conversations result. (This is a good thing.)

Here are three reasons to consider getting a blog:

1.To Replace Your Ezine

If you currently publish an ezine, you may wish to consider replacing it with a regularly published blog. This means using your blog to publish journal entries, and then when it comes time to communicate with your subscriber list, you excerpt some items from your blog, and send those out as your ezine.

This saves you from creating special articles only for your ezine. In many cases it becomes easier for you to write in blog format (short and sweet) so you save time. Readers enjoy the practical, "reporter-like" nature of blogs instead of ezines, and gradually come to feel that they are in conversation with you on a daily basis. You become part of their everyday circle of friends and associates, which leads to you becoming their natural resource on the topic of your expertise.

2. To Create a Quick and Dirty Learning Environment or e-Campus

For those of you who offer TeleClasses or other programs that want to have a web page of learning resources, links, class notes and audio, etc., a blog can be a great way to bring together an e-Campus.

If you offer a workshop, coaching/consulting, or even a software solution, and you want to instantly add value to your clients, create a "client/student resource page" using a blog. This becomes an environment that the students can play in, study more, and soak up your materials. Your clients continue to benefit from your expertise even though you're not physically there; they do it at their pace, and at little cost to you.

Once again, because blogging makes it easy for you to continually update your website without mucking around with FrontPage or DreamWeaver, you will save time and energy publishing to the Internet.

3.) Just For Fun, And To Be Cool

Let's face it, a large part of the reason you're wondering about blogs is because it sounds cool, right? And new stuff is fun. So why not try it just because? Sometimes it's enough to try something because it stretches you, keeps you limber and awake to possibilities. There's nothing wrong with playing, UNLESS you fool yourself into thinking your business is improving, or you're somehow paying the mortgage while you play.

Rest easy, there's no pressure to get a blog. Not getting one won't negatively impact your bottom line. So although the technology can be entrancing, stay focused... what are you selling to who? How is it going? That said, do stay curious about new technology. Part of your chosen profession as an online biz owner means modeling for others by staying abreast of new things.