Making Money from Blogs

Post contributed by Wesley Mills -

The blogging world is becoming more and more filled with people each day. It’s an enjoyable attraction that young people and adults alike can partake in. But a key question many people are asking is this: How can I make money blogging? Is it possible? Darren Rowse is a full-time blogger, and he gives some helpful tips on how bloggers can start making money while sitting behind their keyboard.

Some of the suggestions that he gives are obvious:

-       Products. This one seems blatant, but if one starts to sell various infographics for various products, you may be surprised at the feedback you get.

-       Advertising. This one is also not hard to figure out, as most websites these days have advertisements everywhere on the page.

Some of the other suggestions were not as obvious:

-       Services: Any sort of training or coaching that is offered on the website could be charged towards the customer. This, of course, requires expertise over anything else.

-       Continuity Programs. Premium content, something like ESPN Insider, can be profitable for blogging if you have a niche market or sort of insider information that you have access to that few others have.

Whether it’s through some sort of direct or indirect means, there are becoming more and more ways for people to make money through blogging. We shall see if people take advantage of it or not. 

ProBlogger's Money Map

Sources - Make Money Blogging,  ProBlogger

How Bloggers Make Money Blogging,  ProBlogger

bjb - Added graphic. And then title

Taking Content Mobile

A study of the top 100 media publications in the U.S. shows 84% reaching out to mobile readers through some combination of mobile apps or websites optimized for mobile.  Newspapers are leading the way, with 86% having a mobile site, and 92% having one or more smartphone apps.  Consumer magazines were the least likely to have mobile websites (44%), but 62% had at least one type of smartphone app.  Bloggers were more likely to have mobile versions of their websites (64%), with less than 40% having dedicated mobile apps.
On the smartphone side, iPhone apps dominated, with twice as many media having iPhone apps than Android apps (Blackberry was a close third among newspapers, but a distant third for consumer magazines and blogs.)  Interestingly, media have been somewhat slow to monetize mobile services - most blog and consumer magazine mobile websites carry no advertising, nor do a quarter of newspaper sites.
The study also looked at mobile content, finding a focus on providing current and breaking news, leaving traditional items such as features and editorials to print and online properties.

As an interesting side note, the study showed that while U.S. media outlets have been quick to embrace mobile opportunities, only 11% of some 719 UK print media titles had mobile websites.

Sources: "Mobile Media Marketing", Research Brief from the Center for Media Research
Press release on study