An anonymous JMMO reader recently sent me an email with the subject line “Help Me” and it contains this message -

I have had a blog for 4 years and am FINALLY now looking to make some money off it. I am going to have a web designer recreate it, but can you help me out to make some money off it? Do you make money off yours?

I receive a lot of this type of messages. As in, A LOT.

And, no matter how many times I receive and try to respond to such emails, I always find it a bit difficult to come up with the right answer.

It’s not because I don’t know what to say. In fact, I pretty much have the same answer each time.

I just find it difficult because it makes me feel that these people want a “magic answer”. A simple solution on how to rake in the riches from blogging.

The problem is: There’s no easy solution. No magic answer.

Yes, I make money off my blogs. I run a few, you see. Not as a full time job, mind you. So, I don’t get to spend much time on them. But, that’s just how I like to run my online life at the moment. Much as I love it all, I’m keeping a bit of a distance, as I explore my other interests and live the rest of my life.

I know other people have decided to make this as their full-time gig. I know I have in the past. That’s why I know it’s possible to do it.

So now, how can I help others make money off their blogs? Well, that’s one of the biggest reasons I maintain this site, JMMO. It’s a way for me to write down different ideas on how to make money online. It’s how I try to guide those who are starting out and experimenting in finding ways to make some money from the web. That was the reason I started in this MMO niche in the first place some 4+ years ago. I don’t see myself as a “business” or “marketing” blogger. I mainly do this because I receive so many questions and find a number of leads and ideas in this field. That’s why I keep going with this blog.

But, I digress.

Now, back to the main question: How do I help this person to make money off his/her blog? There really are so many factors with making money from one’s blog.

The longevity of the blog is one important aspect – although not the most important one. A new blog will always have a bit of an uphill battle, as it tries to build content and readership. A four-year-old blog, hopefully, will have enough readers, PR, content, and pageviews to attract monetisation.

So, my next suggestion is to learn as much as you can about making money from blogs. There are so many things written out there, of course. And, JMMO alone has several ideas that I shared over the years. Since there are a number of posts to go through here, perhaps, checking the “Best of JMMO” page might be a useful start. For bloggers, the “Making Money in the first 6 Months” might be a good place to gather some ideas.

Don’t go overboard with the research! Just get enough information to help you gain some confidence about implementing ‘best practices’ — then get in to the action. Make some choices when it comes to revenue models. Then, try to implement them bit by bit. Experiment, take notes, then try some new things. Rinse and repeat – until you find the right formula for your particular circumstance.

If you set some realistic goals, then hopefully, you will begin to see the results of your labour. I wish you all the best with it!

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Money Chat: Finally Jumping in to Making Money from Blogging

A few months ago, I received this email from Jennifer Hofmann of Inspired Home Office -

Hi Shai -

I just looked through a bunch of your posts about how to make money blogging. I learned a TON! [edit]… am still learning the basic strategies behind blogging.

I have a question about making money from blogging that didn’t seem to be covered in your lineup. It’s a bit protracted, but see what you think:

When I’m not blogging, I’m running my business (the Inspired Home Office). My marketing strategy for the business is developed from Robert Middleton’s approach by Mark Silver at the heartofbusiness.com.

The strategy works like this: Use my website to describe the problem potential clients are facing and then offer them a complimentary product that can help them. In the process, I gain their email address which then allows me to email them regularly with other helpful info and also market my products and services.

This isn’t new, of course, but this model has been very effective for me so far. However, what I’m wondering is how my blog fits into that system. If potential clients are getting all the info they need from my blog, is there an incentive to get them to visit my site? Have you seen models of how websites and blogs can work cohesively?

I’m all ears!

- Jennifer

This is a common question from online business people who are using a similar niche in their websites and blogs. How do you make websites and blogs work together?

In fact, I remember a colleague who once asked me the very same question. She was running a popular website on writing and was venturing in to the world of blogging at the time. Since she started a blog on the same topic (writing), she was wondering if she was actually taking away traffic from her website.

My answer to this: Create two totally separate products with your website and your blog. Even though there might be some overlap, there’s room for creating a healthy relationship between the two.

Most websites tend to be more like “brochures” or “online shops” – they don’t usually get updated on a regular basis. Blogs, on the other hand, tend to be updated regularly. Use your blogs to direct traffic to your website and vice versa. Write about unique, short items on your blog – and point to a more comprehensive resource on your website. When you create good, unique articles on your blog, remind people about the products and services you also offer for sale on your website. Or, you can run a website that incorporates a blog section, like Sandra Magsamen.

Anyway, some examples of individuals who managed to create a relationship between their websites and blogs successfully include:

• Anne Wayman of The Golden Pencil (freelance writing blog), who also run About Freelance Writing (website).
• Artist Claudine Hellmuth, who has a website called Collage Artist and runs a personal blog on BlogSpot.
• Susan Connor, a designer of paper goods, has a SusyJack website and a Hey Susy blog.

So, yes, it is possible to make it work – having a website and blog at the same time that can work together.

What about you? Do you run both a website and blog that deal with the same topic? Or do you do things exclusively on websites or blogs?

Image: sxc.hu; Edits, Shai Coggins

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Money Chat: Making Websites and Blogs Work Together

Many people find it a challenge to get started with online money making ideas and plans. Dolph, a JMMO reader who wishes to make money from blogging recently posted this comment and plea:

Hi. I’ve been wanting to start my own blog and try to earn a small amount but I could not decide on what to start about. I mean, does it have to be personal or some other stuff? Help me please. And please help me on what to do to set it up for the earnings.

It is quite an overwhelming prospect, this thought of starting to make money with blogging. I come from a point of view though, that it’s best to start blogging just out of sheer passion. Just because you want to blog something. Anything that you’re interested in. Be it a personal blog or hobby blog. Once you get the hang of it, think of ways to monetise it.

I truly believe that if you’ve never blogged before and you get in to it just to make money, you’ll probably find yourself very disappointed. There’s already a lot of bloggers out there with passion, with great content, and with a lot of readers. And yet, they are still not making that much money from it.

Blogging for money is highly competitive and there’s so much to learn in order to become successful.

Having said that now, let me address Dolph’s two main specific questions –

1) Does a blog need to be personal in order to be monetised? Or, does it have to deal with other subjects?

There are different ways to look at this subject. Most of us will probably say, no, it doesn’t have to be a personal blog. In fact, most blogs that make decent income are probably niche blogs that cater to a specific audience. Yet, at the same time, in order for any blog to be successful (no matter how niche or product-specific, etc it might be), there must be some kind of personal element in to it.

In any case, this brings me back to my earlier suggestion of starting a blog that you’re interested in. What do you want to talk about? What do you like to read about?

Working on a blog can be real hard work if you end up with topics that you’re not really interested in. Bad enough when you already like a topic. Imagine if you end up starting, say, a celebrity blog and the thought of watching Awards shows and such repulse you?

So, yeah – start a blog that you like. Something that you’d love to read yourself.

2) How do you set a blog up for earnings?

A whole book can probably be written on this topic. I’m trying to build up resources on this over the last 2.5 years since I started JMMO. Some suggestions may be found in the category, Blogging for Dollars. You’ll also find many blogs dedicated to making money through blogging.

I’ve also covered a quick guide for other beginners like Dolph in a previous Q & A session I wrote here at JMMO: Making Money from Blogs in the First 6 Months.

Your Turn:
Are you making money from blogs? What did you do to get started? How long it did take for you to make money? Any other tips you’d like to share with other problogger wannabes?

Image based on photo by Pierre Amerlynck
From sxc.hu

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Money Chat: Helping a Problogger Wannabe

In the post, Top Things To Consider when Getting a Domain Name, JMMO reader Missy wanted to know the following:

1) Can a domain name be too niche?

My response: It depends on the niche – and what are the monetization expectations from the said domain. Some niche topics are definitely worth pursuing.

I’ve created mini sites and programmes for certain niche topics after investigating the topic’s potential income. And, some basic ideas literally do pay off.

Ultimately, if you’re really passionate about that niche, you’ll find a way to make it work one way or the other, even though actual benefits may not always come in the form of Adsense cheques or affiliate sales.

2) Which tool to use to check on the income potential of a domain name?

This was the question that I was stumped to begin with. But, I guess, I can just share my own process in analyzing a domain name’s monetization potential. And my process includes: checking keyword relevancy, scouting for affiliate linking, competition analysis, and advertising potential.

Depending on what kind of data I wish to have, I use different tools with every area of the process. For example, I use different keyword research tools when analyzing relevancy. I use Google a lot, when looking at competition, affiliate links, and ad potential.

Other people will most likely have different approaches.

If you have other tools that you use in your own research, I’d love to hear about them too.

3) What type of domain names are better to use when using ad programmes like Adsense? And what types of domain names can be used for affiliate marketing?

To me, the question is not about matching monetization strategies with domain names. At least, not to start with. I prefer to think of matching domain names with my vision or plans for the domain first. What do I want the site to achieve? What’s the best way to maximize the use of the domain?

Do I wish to start a blog on it? An online magazine? A directory? A mini site? A forum? A community? A service? A sales page?

Also, another thing to consider is: Where will your audience come from? Will they be primarily geared for search engine referrals, inbound links, or through subscriptions?

If you want to get a lot of search engine traffic, keyword-rich domain names will most likely work better than ‘branded’ names. If you want to develop a following or a fan base, then ‘brandable’ domain names will be great.

If your site will rely heavily on search engine traffic, contextual ad programmes like Adsense will probably do well. Affiliates can be effective too, but people tend to want to buy things from people they feel that they already know. So, having subscribers/followers/fans will be useful if you want to make money from affiliate programmes.

So, what about you? Do you have any other tips and thoughts for Missy and other folks who might be wondering about the same things?

Image based on photo by Pierre Amerlynck
From sxc.hu

This post is originally from Just Make Money Online. Please respect copyright.

Money Chat: Monetizing Domain Names