A blog offers an excellent platform to share your ideas, opinions and even values with the world. Those who have mastered the art of creating pictures using words can amass a large following through their posts. Even more, blogging is very flexible: You can write about anything under the sun, as long as you know enough or have the passion.

Monetizing a blog

While sharing your ideas with the world can be sufficient, you probably should not go that far without getting something in return. Blogging can be the key to unlocking your path to financial freedom. Many people have turned this hobby into a money-minting venture. There is a class that depends purely on their blogging income. The entire process of turning your posts into dollar funnels is what is called monetizing a blog.

Though most people can attest to earning a lot of money from online writing and freelancing, it is no mean feat. Monetizing your blog is a process that requires planning, hard work and dedication. Nonetheless, anything worth having is worth working for. In this post are some fundamental ways to help you turn your writing hobby into a second source of income. The first step is to read this to the very end.

Where the money comes from

• Pay Per Click

PPC is the most common source of income on blog spots. First, the person paying posts their adverts on your site. Each time someone clicks on a link from your blog, you earn an agreed percentage. The most common PPC is Google Adsense. However, you can only make enough money worth talking about if you have over 10,000 plus clicks in a day.

• Affiliate marketing

With affiliate marketing, an online merchant such as Amazon or any other seller advertises their product on your site. You earn a percentage of the price. The higher the traffic to your website, the better your bargaining power. As such, you need to work on getting traffic to your blog.

• Sponsored content

Sponsored content involves paying to write about a specific product or issue. The lowest pay per post is $50, and this is worked upward as the level of traffic to your site increases. One example of sponsored posts is product reviews.

• Marketing your product

This type of marketing does not earn direct cash to your bank account, but it at least saves the one you already have. If you have a product, you can use your blog to market it. Consequently, all the users that visit your site can see it. You not only get people to buy your product, but you also keep the profits as well.

How to get started monetizing your blog

1. Choose a niche

Though it is true that you can write about anything under the sun, if you plan to make money out of your writing, your first step is to narrow it down. Focus on the area you understand most or are passionate about. Doing this allows you to stand out among other bloggers. Again, any business that wants to market through your site can be sure you will be attracting the right audience.

However, do not make your niche too narrow as it will limit the number of posts you can write. For example, devoting your site to animals can be too general. You can narrow it down to the health of domesticated animals or pets. However, choosing to write on rabbit diseases only can limit your scope to less than ten posts.

2. Select relevant products

Selecting a niche automatically filters out your target group. When monetizing your blog, insist on marketing products that are related to your chosen niche. It will make it easy for you to write content that matches the product you are promoting. Otherwise, you will be recognized as the blogger who will write about anything for the sake of money.

Again, if you have to post sponsored content, go for the products you are using or understand. It will not only make life easier for you, but it will also earn you invaluable trust from your readers. You should start with small gains while building on what you understand rather than embarrass yourself and lose traffic by trying to talk about what you do not understand.

3. Content is king

When you plan to earn money from posting stuff on your blog, whatever you post must be worth paying for or reading, for traffic’s sake. Ensure your content is not only properly written but is also factual and up-to-date if need be.

If achieving this on your own becomes difficult, hire a prolific writer to do the groundwork. Remember, how much you earn by monetizing your blog is directly dependent on how much effort you put into it.

Starting and maintaining a blog is no easy task! Joining a network of like-minded entrepreneurs can be a great way of alleviating the stresses of being a business-owner while also picking up useful practical tips. IAW is a network of more than 850,000 women and offers inspiration, support and motivation through virtual and face to face meetings. Connect with the network that will help you achieve more today!