Blogging to Earn Money
Blogging is a great way to make extra money and pay down debt. It gives you a free way to present your knowledge and ideas for others to enjoy and you can gain revenue in a variety of different ways.
This is what I have done so far to build an income from blogging:
Start A Blog
First I suggest getting a blog from either blogger.com or wordpress.com. I use blogger, but that is just because I like the interface. Start putting some decent content about what interests you the most. I currently have two blogs. This one and my one about health. This is because personal finance and health are my two favorite subjects.
Here is a link to check out my health blog if you are interested.
Apply for Google Adsense
Put some content on there and apply for a google adsense account. Use the link below on the left to sign up.
To read more about google adsense read my article, How to Earn from Google Adsense.
Build a Squidoo Lens
You don’t even have to have a website or a blog in order to build a Squidoo lens. The great thing about a squidoo lens is that it can actually make you money!
If you already have a blog or website a Squidoo Lens can help to bring more traffic to your site. If you don’t have a website that can act as a nice one page site for you to promote the programs you belong to such as CashCrate and others.
If you would like to make one of your own- Click here to make a free Squidoo Lens.
You are welcome to check out the Squidoo Lens I have created here.
Sign up for an Affiliate Account with Amazon.com
I mainly did this for my health blog because I talk about health products all the time. I thought this would be a nice way to earn a small income from all of the product reviews I have been doing.
Another great program is Commission Junction. I have made a few bucks here and there from that program as well.
Other Programs
There are a lot more things I can do to help build an income from blogging, but most of them require a site that is at least 3 months old, that has a lot more content than I have and a lot more traffic. So I am going to have to wait on those. I will add them to my list here when I am able to implement them.
One program I am particularly interested is Text Link Ads. With their program you can get paid to put text ads on your site. It is really simple too because all you do is add some code to your site and they do the rest, while you get paid. However your blog needs to be at least 3 months old before you can apply to their program.
For information on how to get traffic to your site using articles read, How to Use Articles to Get Free Traffic.
I tried applying for PayPerPost.com, but they rejected my blog because I don’t receive enough traffic and it is not 90 days old. I will try re-applying around August or September. They pay you to post on certain topics and do reviews about companies and such.
Progress Overview
I see this suggested a lot, and so I wanted to warn everyone: If you use WordPress.com, you CANNOT put AdSense ads on your site. You cannot put affiliate links OF ANY KIND on your site. I went through that myself - I switched from Blogger to WP.com so I could get more control over my site (WP.com allows you to do lots of things Blogger does not) and then I found out that Blogger lets me do one thing WP.com won’t: Ads.
Now I am working to transfer my blog from WordPress.com to WordPress.org (two completely different systems in SO MANY WAYS, although they are run by the same company) just so I can put ads on my site.
Just wanted to warn anyone out there who is trying to decide which to go with. Ads vs no ads might make the difference in that decision, I don’t know. I can tell you that other than the ads part of it, I really liked WP.com a lot more than Blogger. Better set up, more control, etc. If they would just allow ads, I would have been completely happy with them, but they don’t, and have no plans of ever allowing them.
HTH,
Havs
Little note.
Wordpress.com is a site a little like blogger, in that it’s easy to use, and sets up a blog for you.
Wordpress.org is the site where you can actually download the wordpress software, which is the actual blogging software, which you can put on your own webhost (in other words, your very own website). This gives you COMPLETE control over everything about your blog. It is ENTIRELY your website. This is not for the casual blogger, however.
Like hava says, the best thing to do is to simply go with Blogger. It takes minutes to set up and it’s easy to use and maintain.
Hello Amy (and Hava),
Yes I had my entire WP blog shut down due to affiliate links. They wouldnt even let me access my blog to transfer the posts, and there was a lot of them and I had good Alexa ranking too. But, I got a new one going now.
Anyways, Amy, I made a comment on your health blog and gave you a GREAT link to an affiliate program that is totally health related, and they pay 50% commissions. I want to help you find ways to pay off your debt, and this program fits hand in hand with your other blog. Im gonna check out your cashcrate (sp?) thing too so I can make some extra money and also be one of your referrals to hopefully help you out too.
Best of luck to you,
Brad
I have just moved my new blog over from wordpress after reading this as I wanted to use adsense.
Thanks for the heads up before I had blogged too far! As a new blogger it is all very confusing.
Amy I am really enjoying your blog and good luck to you in reaching your goal!
I am really inspired by your drive and determination and would love to piggyback on some of your ideas to start making money to pay off my debt. Thank you for your suggestions. Quick question though… how do you make so much money on your cashcrate and others. I only seem to make about $25 a month. Any help would be great. Thanks
I commend you for making this life changing decision. The sooner you are debt free the better off you will be. I think it’s easier the younger your children are, because they love playing at the park, a lot.
We became debt free in March 2007. It is such a huge relief to now have our money working for us. We also did this after reading Dave’s book. I recommend it to people all the time. He is so great!
I wish you the best of luck and lots of patience. It is a long road, but the journey with be unforgetable and so worthwhile. You will have an amazing story to tell!
~Amy~
i just wanted to thank you for such an abundance of information. I recently quit my job to go to college full time and we are feeling the pinch of not having that extra income. I have tried different “referral” systems that work for a month or 2 then seem to fizzle out. But you have really inspired me to keep trying. YOU, young lady, have a very good head on your shoulders and I will be watching your progress as you pay that debt down! I have signed up under you for cashcrate. I have $24.80 earned and another $30 or so pending. I signed on at Gangster too. Squido is up AND I have a blogger!! LOL! No where near as professionally done as yours, but I’m having fun all the same.
Keep up the good work!!
~MelissaLori~
Melissa, You and all my other readers are who I write this for. If I can just inspire one other person and help them, it is all worth it.
Amy Bass
Hello Amy,
Just wanted to wish you tons of success..I picked up your WSO and I’m looking forward to reading it and getting to work..I may be an old timer but I
m up to learning new tricks for sure.
All the best,
Doc